The Hangover
by comade
Summary: There was a lot of things Juvia hated about alcohol. She didn't like how hard it was for her to even start feeling the effects, how depressed it could make her feel, and how addicted one of her dearest friend was. Now, she could add three new things on her list: she didn't like waking up in a stranger's bed with a new guild mark and a wedding band on her finger.
1. Every night, I live and die

She had everything to be comfortable. A dozen of the fluffiest pillow she could find, a hundred covers, a perfect matress that she had saved jewels for during months and that had been the cause of weeks of teasing from her best friend who couldn't understand how someone could spend so much on her comfort. Juvia had spent days explaining him that she wasn't a heavy sleeper like him, and that improving her comfort would definitely help her having good night of sleep and therefore having more energy for missions, but, of course, trying to explain that to him would be like trying to explain the concept of intimacy to Natsu.

The point was, Juvia had everything to go to sleep and wake up while feeling like she was laying in the most warm and soft bed ever. And yet, here she was, shaking from head to toe and wishing she had a hundred more layers on her. Plus, she hadn't even mentioned her headache yet. She felt terrible. Her head was pounding, and every single limb of her body was numb, as if she had gone to a mission the day before. The problem was, she hadn't signed up for a mission in a week, and she had no memory of what she had done the day before.

Sighing, Juvia turned around and readjusted her blanket so it covered her entire body, before slowly laying her head against the pillow again, trying to make her death as comfortable as possible. She wrinkled her nose at the smell of cologne beside her, and her heart missed a beat as she wondered for a second if Gajeel had crashed at her place again, until she noticed that the smell wasn't strong at all, and also quiet pleasant. Guessing that she had just stolen her best friend's jacket again, she let out a pleased sigh and grabbed her blanket in her fist to tug it all the way up to her nose, when she noticed something wrong. The bluenette furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, and slipped her hand under the cover and near her chest again, noticing with worry that she could only feel her skin under her touch. She was completely naked.

Juvia shot up, while holding the cover close to her chest, and her eyes immediately landed on the white wall in front of her bed. Her wall wasn't white. Just like her usual bed wasn't this big, just like her usual bed had a fluffier pillow, and just like her usual bed didn't have a man sleeping in it.

Juvia didn't usually curse a lot. She was a lot softer than this, a lot more distinguished, and yet, given the quantity of pretty words going through her head right now, she was sure that, if she had been able to shout without fearing waking the man next to her, the atrocities flying out of her mouth would've been capable of making Gajeel faint. Now, she could only hope for the man to never wake up.

Carefully glancing at the figure laying beside her, as if looking at him too abruptly could wake him, Juvia's eyes immediately landed on the blond hair spread over the pillow. He had his back to her, but she could still see the single earring underneath his head and pressed against the pillow. This reminded her of someone, but she just couldn't put her finger on it, and her headache definitely wasn't helping. She slighty furrowed her eyebrows, deep in her thoughts, and unconsciously let her eyes wander over his toned shoulders and arms. The bluenette stared at his heaving shoulders for a few seconds, before she felt a slight blush spread across her pale cheeks. It wasn't the usual, childish blush. She wasn't blushing because Gray was fighting or simply calling her. She was blushing for someone else. And weirdly, it wasn't making her freak out as much as she thought it would. Maybe it was because she was exhausted, or maybe it was because her brain was already clouded. All she knew right now was that she had completely lost her train of thoughts trying to determine who that person was, and was simply unashamedly staring at him. Gray was constantly walking half-naked around the guild, so how was it that she couldn't tear her eyes away from this man?

"Gosh, my head..."

For the second, and hopefully last time of the morning, Juvia's heart missed a beat.

She quickly moved back, putting a much distance between him and her, which wasn't much given that they were sharing a bed. She instantly stopped scrambling backwards when she saw that, the more she crawled away from him, the more she dragged the cover away from him as well. She widened her eyes, seeing his chest now completely bare, and looked back at his face. He was sitting up and yawning, as if he hadn't even noticed her. She could finally took a look at his face, and, obviously, the second time her heart missed a beat wasn't actually the last time.

"Sting?" she gasped, before slapping the hand that wasn't holding the cover to her mouth.

This one winced, apparently also suffering from a headache, before turning his head to glance at her. At this point, she was expecting anything. She thought he would maybe shout, or moan, or smirk... She never thought he'd just let out an exhausted sigh before letting himself fall back onto the matress, with his arms behind his head.

Now that she had moved back from him, his chest was completely uncovered, and Juvia felt a blush spread across her cheeks as she tried to look anywhere but at his body. She didn't know why she was reacting like that, she felt like she was cheating on her Gray-sama. Why did she feel so flustered? It never affected her that much whenever Gray walked around the guild half-naked. Maybe it was the problem. Maybe she had gotten too used to seeing him like this. Lucy never blushed when she saw Natsu shirtless because he was like that everyday. She knew how fit he was, she knew he was handsome, but it didn't make her blush. Had Juvia really grown out of her admiration for Gray?

The bluenette's attention was drawn back to Sting as the man let out another yawn, snapping her out of her thoughts. She suddenly realized she was probably supposed to say something at some point. She cleared her throat, and took a deep breath, hoping not too sound too unsure. "Excuse me..." she started shyly.

From where she was, Juvia saw him arch an eyebrow and realized how absurd she was, adressing to him politely as if they hadn't just spent the night together. Once again, she felt her cheeks heating up, and was thankful he was laying down and staring at the ceiling, not at her.

"What are you doing here?" she started again, this time sounding at the same time more sure but more embarrassed.

The blond arched an eyebrow again, but this time turned his head to look at her. "You're in my room," he informed her, as a slight smirk formed on his lips.

"Then what is Juvia doing in your room?"

Sting opened his mouth, about to answer her dumb question, but let out a groan instead, his headache coming back strong. He took a pillow and covered his face with it, letting out another stiffled grunt. Apparently, they both had drunk a little too much last night, which was weird. It wasn't in Juvia's habits to go to a bar and drink, first of all because it wasn't her type, and second of all because she needed a lot of alcohol to actually feel the effects because of her magic. It also wasn't in Sting's habits to do that. Not to drink, he actually did that a lot, but to bring a stranger back home like that. Most people thought he was the kind of man to do that every night, especially because of the medias, but it didn't happen that often. Most women who approached him in bars were shallow and only knew him because of his guild, so most of the time he ended up pushing them away.

"Can I ask you a favor?" Sting suddenly threw the pillow away and sat up, looking directly at Juvia, which made her squirm uncomfortably. "Can we keep this secret? If my friends hear about this, they'll be pretty upset."

"Why is that?" Juvia asked, suddenly curious.

"I had promised I wouldn't screw up anymore."

After a few seconds of silence, Juvia slowly nodded, agreeing to stay quiet about this. She didn't really want to be his dirty little secret but she also knew it was in both of their interests to keep this night away from both the medias and their friends' ears. She didn't want anyone in her guild to learn about this. Not only Gray, but also Erza, Cana, and especially Gajeel. Gray probably wouldn't react, or at least wouldn't show any interest, but she knew he wouldn't like it and it'd break her heart for him to start to think less of her. Also, Erza would ask her too many details, Cana would be too happy and would probably raise her eyebrows in an inappropriate way, and finally Gajeel would probably take the first train to go beat Sting up. She didn't want any of this to happen and she was more than glad to know that Sting felt the same way.

Juvia was about to say it was probably for the best, when the door suddenly swung open, revealing a brunet she recognized as Sting's friend. "Hey, do you-" he said as he stepped into the room, before stopping dead in his track, his wide eyes glued the couple still in bed. Sting noticed the blanket was awfully low on his waist, and scrambled up, tugging the cover to drap it around his waist and forgetting about the other person occupying the bed.

"Sting, I, um..." Rogue stuttered, as Juvia just stared at him with wide eyes, completely unaware of the cover that had just been snatched away from her. "Could you please give her the blanket back?"

Juvia looked down at her body. A deafening scream echoed in the whole guild.

It was probably going to be a little hard to keep this a secret now.


	2. It's just another graceless night

Juvia was sitting on the edge of a bathtub, her head in her hands, isolated in Sting's bathroom. As soon as the blond's friend had asked him to give her back the blanket, she had noticed how very little dressed she was, which meant completely naked, and had followed her first instinct, running away to go lock herself in the bathroom. Well, it would actually be her second instinct, since usually her first instinct would be to attack.

Now that she was alone and that her head started to feel less dizzy, realization slowly dawned on her, and made her feel even more sick to her stomach than she was before. She couldn't believe what had happened. Juvia had spent her entire life dreaming about being a bold woman, gorgeous and free, who met new people everynight and sometimes woke up in a bed that wasn't hers, but now that it was actually happening to her, she realized that her fantasy was nothing but a nightmare. Juvia didn't want to be a bold woman anymore. She didn't want to spend the night out and wake up with no memory of her evening, she didn't want to wake up in a guild that wasn't hers, especially in a bed that wasn't hers. Right now, all the bluenette wanted was to be back in Fairy Hills, alone and bored, reading a sappy book about love that Gajeel would make fun of her for.

Juvia snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a knock on the door, she whipped her head up so fast she could've gotten a whiplash, and quickly got up, wrapping a towel around her waist before going to unlock the door. Before she opened it, she hesitated for a second, her hand still on the handle, and asked who it was. She didn't want to face Sting. Well, actually, the bluenette didn't want to face anyone right now, but she knew she had to, she just wanted to avoid seeing the man she had just spent the night with.

A voice she had already heard earlier answered her, telling her that he was Rogue, Sting's friend. The color drained from Juvia's face when she realized he was the man who had walked in unannounced and caught both of them in bed. She lowered her head, closing her eyes for a second, and took a deep breath, before slightly opening the door, peeking outside. The brunet she had seen earlier was standing there, looking completely unbothered by what had happened earlier. His expression was calm and unreadable, but as soon as his eyes landed on her, his cheeks slightly heated up, showing that he was still a little disturbed by the events of earlier.

"Yukino gave me some clothes for you," he said, his voice strangely devoid of any emotion.

Weirdly, Juvia found herself calmed down by the aura he radiated. She remembered him from the Grand Magic Games, she used to find him really intimidating, or at least more than Sting. She used to find his quiet and collected attitude unnerving and almost frightening, like the calm before the storm, but now that she was standing in front of him, only two feet away from the other mage, she found herself appeased, as if her body was trying to copy him.

Slowly pushing the door, as if he was trying not to scare her away, Rogue extended the hand that was holding the clothes, waiting for her to take them. Juvia grabbed the pile of clothes and thanked him, her cheeks still a little red despite her being calmer than before. Rogue gave her a quick nod, and without adding anything else, turned around and left. As soon as he was gone, Juvia closed the door and turned around, resting her back against the wood a few seconds as she took deep breaths in.

"Everything's fine," she breathed in, trying to stay as calm as she was just a minute ago, "Juvia will take the first train back to Magnolia and everything will be back to normal."

She dropped her towel onto the sink, and put the pile of clothes aside, only keeping a dress in her hands. She put it in front of her chest and looked at herself in the mirror to see if it would fit her, when her eyes got caught by her left thigh. Juvia blinked for a few seconds, before looking down at her thigh, her eyes landing on the blank spot where her guild mark used to be. Her mouth was agape as she took another look at her in the mirror. She felt like she was going to faint, until she noticed something on her other thigh. Relief washed over her as she realized that she had simply looked at the wrong thigh, but when she took a closer look at her other leg, the famous fairy tail had been replaced by the gold mark reminiscent of a sabertoothed cat. She stared at the golden mark for a few seconds, the feeling of dizziness came back, and she suddenly felt sick to her stomach.

"Juvia?" someone called her from outside the bathroom. "Are you-"

Without leaving the stranger time to finish, Juvia rushed to kneel down in front of the toilets, leaning over it before throwing up. A few rushed steps were heard from outside before the door slung open, and only a few seconds after, a woman she recognized as being Yukino came to sit beside her, holding her hair back. Shooting her a thankful glance from the corner of her eyes, Juvia let out a groan, resting her head against her palm. With her head lowered like that, her eyes landed directly on her new guild mark.

Juvia was never drinking again.

* * *

"I thought we had talked about this, Sting."

The mage groaned when he recognized his friend's voice, letting his head hit the wood of the table he was sitting at. He had only been awake for five minutes, and the aspirin had barely started to dissolve in the glass right beside his head on the table, therefore, he definitely couldn't deal with this right now. Despite the obvious discontent he had just shown, the blond heard his friend sit beside him, and felt his stare burning holes at the back of his head. Letting out a heavy sigh, Sting finally looked up, slightly straightening himself so he at least wasn't laying down on the table for whatever kind of lesson he was about to receive. Seeing Rogue's judgemental eyes, he guessed that it wasn't going to be a nice and wise lesson.

A few seconds went by and the brunet was still staring at the other dragon slayer, probably waiting for him to apologize or something. Sting ended up rolling his eyes and letting out a frustrated groan, telling him that he had been drunk last night and hadn't meant to screw up. This excuse didn't seem to satisfy his friend, who furrowed his eyebrows in disapproval. Alright, maybe bringing up that he was completely wasted wasn't the best strategy.

"That's the thing, Sting," Rogue started with a glare. "You never mean to screw up, and yet, you always do. You can't act like that anymore, you're the master of Sabertooth."

Sting looked away, starting to feel a little guilty. That was the problem with Rogue, he always found a way to make his friend feel bad about his actions, even when at first the blond didn't care the slightest. The dragon slayer didn't know why he always felt this need to act better around his friend, but it annoyed him to no end.

Letting a defeated sigh escape his lips, Sting ran a hand through his hair before letting his head rest against it, looking down at his glass where his aspirin was still dissolving. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, riddled with guilt. "I'll try to fix it." he added, looking up tentatively at his friend. This one wasn't frowning anymore, and, even though it was really hard to notice, Sting could see a small smile pulling at the corners of his lips. Already feeling lighter, the blond smiled back at his friend, and lifted his glass, about to take a gulp, when someone suddenly swooped by and snatched it away from his hands. Sting whipped his head around, his eyes immediately landing on Yukino's back. He shouted at the retreating form with an offended look on his features, and she turned around, still striding away with his glass in hand, and shouted back that Juvia was feeling sick with an apologetic smile.

"I can't believe that woman," Sting grumbled as he turned his head back to Rogue.

This one had a glint of amusement in his eyes, and the blond sent him a death glare, saying that they were supposed to support each other. The brunet arched an eyebrow at him, and slightly shook his head before getting up, ready to leave, when he suddenly sat back down again. Sting gave him a weird look, wondering what he was doing, but Rogue wasn't looking at him, his head turned towards the stairs. "This is gonna be interesting, I don't wanna miss this," he mumbled absent-mindedly.

Sting frowned, turning his head to see what he was looking at, when his glance fell on a rather distressed looking Juvia. Yukino was right next to her and had a comforting hand on the bluenette's shoulder, looking like she was trying to reassure her. As they both reached the end of the stairs, Yukino led her new friend toward their table as this one kept rambling about something, not even noticing where the other woman was taking her.

"- Juvia will need to tell Makarov, but Juvia can't-"

Sting eyebrows shot up as she sat down at their table, noticing how sick she actually look. Her skin looked even paler than usual, and her eyes were a little red. He wondered for a second if it was really just because of her hangover, and quickly concluded that, given how fast she was talking, she was probably also just mortified about the situation.

Yukino tried to stop her, telling her they'd find a way to fix this, and Juvia finally looked up, her eyes directly landing on the person sitting in front of her, Sting. Her eyes widened even more at his sight, and she abruptly leaned forward, almost making him jump back. "Sting-san!" the blond raised his eyebrows at the honorific, but let her keep on. "Juvia has a big problem, she needs your help."

"What's wrong?"

Without saying a word, Juvia got up and slightly lifted the dress that Yukino had landed her, revealing her thigh. Sting looked at her leg and furrowed his eyebrows, wondering what was the problem. At first, his eyes trailed over her smooth skin, completely missing the point, but who could really blame him? Whoever had never been in admiration in front of her endless legs throw him the first stone. He had already noticed her during the Grand Magic Games and he knew he wasn't the only one who had enjoyed the slit in her winter dress.

When his eyes finally landed on her guild mark, he stared at it blankly for a second, his mind still a little clouded from last night, until realization dawned on him. "Oh no," he muttered, as his eyes widened. He heard another muffled "oh no." coming from beside him, as Rogue let his head fall into his hands, completely desperated. It was really unusual for him to show that many emotions. Most of the time Sting was frustrated by how indifferent his friend could be, but now at least he knew how to make him react. He only needed to get completely wasted, sleep with an innocent mage from another powerful guild, and also make her a member of his own guild while totally stealing her away from their rival. Really easy.

"Oh no is an understatement," Yukino winced.

"Well now I think we can forget about keeping this a secret," Rogue groaned, shaking his head in despair.

While his friends were freaking out, Sting was deep in his thoughts, wondering how he was gonna fix this. Now it was obvious that a few people were gonna learn about this night, and that it would end up in the medias, but it wasn't what truly worried him. He didn't care about this kind of rumors, he had already experienced them, and he was sorry for Juvia who probably didn't want to end up on the front page of a magazine, but it was bound to happen. No, what really worried Sting was the reaction of the other guild's master. It was known that mages didn't really appreciate it when some other guilds tried to steal their nakamas, and knowing how tumultuous Sabertooth's past was, Sting didn't want to put it in a bad situation again. "How the fuck are we gonna explain that to Makaroff?" he wondered aloud, still deep in his thoughts.

Juvia whipped her head towards him after hearing his words, alerted. "We don't need to tell him!" she claimed, snapping Sting out of his thoughts. "Juvia can tell him she just accidentaly whipped him off, or that she don't remember anything, or..." she trailed off when she saw the blond shake his head.

"A simple mage can't take his guild mark off, only a master can do it. He'll know someone else was involved, and it won't take long before he discovers it was me."

Defeated, Juvia let out a resigned sigh as her shoulders dropped in disappointment. She couldn't believe she was going to have to tell her master the truth. She didn't even want to think about how he would react. She already knew he wouldn't care about her spending the night with Sting, but her joining another guild? It was pure betrayal. He had kindly welcomed her and her friend in his family after they had attacked it, showing her the true meaning of friends and making her discover how it was to truly feel safe and accepted, and yet, only one drunken night was needed for her to give up on him. It made her feel disgusted with herself. Juvia didn't even know if she was going to be able to look at herself in a mirror after that. Could she even look at Gray in the eyes after sleeping with another man? She had made so many mistakes that night, she wished she could go back to the evening before and never touch a drink again.

"Are you alright?" a voice suddenly asked beside her.

Juvia turned her head to her right, meeting Sting's wide navy blue eyes. She could discern a hint of concern in his eyes, which disconcerted her for a second. The bluenette was expecting him to laugh it off or simply not care, but he actually seemed kinda upset and bothered by how everything was turning out. She knew he wasn't mean as she first thought he was, she had learned by the end of the Grand Magic Games that, despite how heartless he appeared to be, the blond was actually really nice and kind, but she didn't think he'd also try and be responsible as a master.

The young woman smiled at him, and was about to answer that Sting was really helpful so it could have been worse, when the blond felt the need to add something, with a stupid toothy grin on his face that did not augur well.

"At least now you can say you slept with the master of Sabertooth, that's pretty cool."

At first, Juvia really tried to keep a straight face on, doing her best to give him a deadpan glare, but the blond could quickly see the corners of her lips shaking as she fought off a smile. He kept staring at her, wiggling his eyebrows in a suggestive way with his stupid grin still spread across his face, and she ended up giving up, letting out a giggle. "It sounds like Juvia slept with an old man," she pointed out, still chuckling behind her hand.

"You're right, do you want a picture of me so you can show off to your friends?"

Juvia rolled her eyes, but giggled when Yukino did the same thing at the same time and they locked eyes. Sting glared at the white-haired girl for this "betrayal", and asked Rogue to defend him, his plead ending up unsurprisingly unanswered. The brunet simply stared back at his friend with amusement glinting in his eyes, and Sting groaned, complaining about how lonely he had gotten since he had become the guild's master because his jealous friends were now mean to him.

This at least elicited a roar of laughter from the entire table, at the expense of the poor dragon slayer who narrowed his eyes at his friends, not liking being the center of the joke. Obviously, he wasn't able to pout for long, and seeing Rogue laugh like that made a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. Even though he felt like he was being laughed at, the atmosphere was now lighter, even Juvia looked less sick than before, her face already back to her usual shade. After a moment, the laughters finally died, and they were all left smiling, not even thinking about the guild mark anymore, until Yukino's glance got caught by a weird shine on Juvia's hand. She leaned a little forward, her eyebrows furrowing in perplexity as she took a closer look it.

"Juvia, what's that on your finger?"

The water mage threw her a confused glance, before looking down at her own hand, frowning at the jewel that was occupying her ring finger. She wasn't really worried about its position, she never really paid attention to what finger she put her rings on, but what preoccupied her more was its appearance. It was a simply white gold band _with_ engravings of roses on it. Her frown got deeper, darkening her features, as she lifted her hand in front of her face to look at it more closely. It almost looked like...

"Is that a freaking wedding band?" she heard Sting choke out from beside her.

Juvia became deathly pale, the colors completely drained from her face. Her head started spinning but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the ring, or, more precisely, _wedding_ ring. There was a buzzing sound going on inside her head and she couldn't even hear what was going on around her anymore. She couldn't focus on anything but the ring. Juvia was married. Juvia had married Sting.

Rogue's sarcastic congratulations were the last thing she heard before dark engulfed her vision, letting her slip into unconsciousness.


	3. Summer slipped us underneath her tongue

If there was one thing Sting never thought he'd be thankful for, it was his reflexes. He knew his enhanced reflexes were the result of his hard training, and he also was aware that the fact that he was a dragon slayer also played a big part in it, just like it played a big part in his great senses. He could smell food from miles away, could read things from far away, and he could catch Juvia when she fainted. The blond had never really paid mind to his enhanced reflexes, because it seemed really dull and unimportant compared to his powers. Now that he thought of it, he was really glad to be granted with fast reflexes, because, first of all, he wouldn't have wanted the water mage to hurt herself as she fell backwards directly onto her head, and, second of all, he looked really cool when he caught her at the last moment by the waist.

She was completely limp in his arms as he slowly and carefully lowered her onto the floor, keeping a hand behind her head. Yukino was already kneeling beside him, with a worried hand on Juvia'ss arm, as Rogue stood behind her, looking down at the bluenette with a slight frown that barely distorted his unreadable expression. Juvia was still breathing, she'd be fine.

"Juvia," Sting called her, slightly tapping his hand against her cheek. "Juvia, wake up."

The bluenette at first didn't react, and the dragon slayer urged her a little, shaking her a little more. "Juvia, don't you dare die in your husband's arms," he pleaded, barely managing to hide the smirk that was pulling the corners of his lips. A scowl appeared on Yukino's features, as she swatted his arm, treating him of idiot as she hissed that he was going to make her faint again. Sting rolled his eyes at her before going back to the water mage, shaking her a little more until she started to stir. She let out a groan as her eyes fluttered open, throwing a confused glance at her surroundings.

Her look went over Yukino and Rogue, before finally landing on Sting. This seemed to revive her memory, and her eyes widened before flickering to her hand, once again confronted to the big mistake from her drunken night that had made her lose consciousness. She stared at it for a few seconds, before putting her head in her hands, distressed.

"This can't be real, it has to be a nightmare," she muttered to herself, slightly shaking her head. "Juvia needs to wake up."

"Rude," she suddenly heard Sting snort beside her. "Honestly, Juvia, you're starting to hurt my feelings a little bit."

She snapped her head up at his words, staring at him with wide, baffled eyes. While she was going through her crisis, the blond was litteraly standing by and cracking jokes. He didn't seem to understand the seriousness of the situation, and it killed her. Or made her want to kill him. Probably a little bit of both. One more joke and she'd probably made him choke with that ring.

"Doesn't Sting-san understand what's happening?" she shrieked. "We're married!"

Sting stared back at her with a blank look. "So what?" he shrugged. "It could be worse."

He saw her eye twitch, and was tempted to move back a little. He knew how strong she was and he knew she could probably kill him right on the spot. He also wondered if it'd be a great idea to flee, he was pretty sure she could smell fear like a predator. She was like a tiger. Sting wondered for a second if she would she kill him if he called her that, and quickly came to the conclusion that yes, she would. There were so many ways to die around this woman.

But, surprisingly, instead of unleashing her wrath on the fool he was, Juvia closed her eyes for a second, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. "If Sting-san'd care to enlighten Juvia, how exactly could it be worse?"

"I don't know, you could've ended up married to... to uhm..." Sting stammered, looking around at his surroundings. "Wow, now that I think of it, anyone would be a better option than me," he winced, before his eyes finally landed on someone, making him perk up, "There! You could've ended up married to that weird creep at the bar. Wait who's even that guy? Is he from here?"

The blond was now staring with his eyes narrowed in suspicion at the old man sitting at the counter, sipping on his alcohol and looking like he didn't belong there at all with his straw hat and dungarees. Yukino and Juvia turned their head to look at him too, distracted for a second, until Rogue, apparently only sane one of the group, snapped them out of it.

"Anyway," he broke in. "That's not the point."

"The point is that you two need to get a divorce, or a house," Yukino agreed.

"That's also not the point," Rogue retorted, shaking his head. "The point is, you two didn't get married."

"What?" everyone shouted, whipping their heads towards him.

This effectively managed to draw everyone's attention back to him, and Juvia quickly got back on her feet to be able to look directly at Rogue as she eagerly waited for an explaination. The brunet sighed before proceeding to explain to them that it was common knowledge that jewelry stores weren't opened in the middle of night, which meant that they had found, borrowed, or stolen the ring. He then added in an exasperated voice that, sadly, knowing Sting, he would've settled on the third choice. Juvia winced at his words, asking him if it was really better than getting married. She hadn't really planned on going to jail yet. "If you find who it belongs to and give it back, yes," Rogue retorted.

Juvia let out a long groan and crouched down again next to Sting and Yukino, putting her head in her hands. It was hopeless. How were they even supposed to find out whose ring it was? It wasn't like their was any indication, a stupid label on it or something... The bluenette suddenly snapped her head up, startling Yukino in the process. She perked up as she realized something, and quickly took her ring off under the white-haired girl's curious eyes. Holding the jewel carefully between her fingers, she looked at the inside of it, her eyes scrutinizing the smooth metal as she slowly spun it until her glance landed on an internal engraving. A satisfied smile crept across her face, and only lasted a minute before she finally read it, all colors draining from her face.

" _B.R. & A.C. on March 20_..." she muttered to herself, her throat suddenly dry. "Bisca and Alzack."

Yukino furrowed her eyebrows, craning her neck to take a peek at the ring over Juvia's shoulder. She asked the bluenette who they were, and the water mage gave her a quick description of the two, who Yukino immediately recognized, having seen them at the Grand Magic Games. "So, it's good, isn't it?" the young woman hesitated. "You know the people you have to give it back to, they'll forgive you easily." Juvia shook her head, looking even more defeated than before.

"Now, Juvia won't only have to tell her master that she left her guild for another, she'll also have to tell her friend that she stole her ring while she was drunk," she lamented. "Everyone will find out about this night."

An uncomfortable silence settled between them, as Sting and Yukino exchanged a furtive glance, looking embarrassed. They had no idea how to help her, and didn't think they could even find a way to make it better. Yukino quietly told her that maybe her friend wouldn't tell anyone, but at this point Juvia was barely listening to her, glumly staring at the ring. Letting out a sigh, Sting got back up and extended a hand towards Juvia, telling her they needed to go back to Fairy Tail as soon as possible so they could fix this whole mess. The bluenette grudgingly accepted it and pulled herself up, shooting up her eyebrows when she felt Sting's hand resting casually on her back as he lead her outside. She looked down, trying to hide the blush spreading across her cheeks, but he quickly noticed it and took his hand off her, apologizing.

"No, it's..." she stammered, redder than ever. "It's nothing."

She fell silent after that, even more embarrassed when she felt Sting's curious eyes on her. He didn't add anything, and kept walking through Crocus. The crowd was dense in most streets and he often had to check over his shoulder to make sure she was still following him. After a few minutes, they finally reached a calmer side of the city, and the bluenette jogged a little to catch up with him, asking him what was the plan as she finally went back to walking beside him.

"Well, personally, I'll go see Makaroff and explain the situation to him. I'll see if he's alright with keeping the whole thing secret from the rest of the guild," Sting shrugged. "Your part is worse, you'll have to go give Bisca the ring back. If she's fine with it, we might get away with it, and you might even manage to keep the whole night secret."

Juvia seemed to ponder for a second, considering his words and wondering if she could really get away with it, before a small smile stretched across her lips. Maybe he was right, maybe things could be fine. If Makaroff and Bisca didn't have a problem with it, she might never hear from that night again. She didn't even remember it. Life could go on as if it had never happened. The water mage was already feeling lighter, but, given her luck, she stayed wary, knowing something else would come up to ruin her day once again. Maybe she'd find out she had robbed the bar she had gotten wasted in last night, or maybe she had actually killed Bisca to get that ring. Nothing could really surprise her anymore.

Luckily, this time fate decided to go easy on her, and when they finally reached the train station, she didn't get the bad surprised filled with murders and theft she expected. Instead, when Sting went up to check the train timetable, he came back looking a little frustrated and told her the only train available was in an hour. When she sighed in relief, he shot her a strange look.

"Juvia was expecting a lot worse after this whole turn of events..." she explained.

A smirk crept across Sting's lips, and his glance lingered on her for a second, making her squirm under his stare. "Don't be so happy, you still have to spend an hour with me now," he chuckled, before grabbing her wrist to pull her away from the station. "Come on, I'll be your guide. You've never truly visited Crocus, have you?"

Juvia hesitantly followed him, a little reluctant as he pulled her back into the streets of Crocus. "Wouldn't it be safer if Sting-san and Juvia just waited at the station?" she asked, completely stopping in her tracks so the blond would finally stop walking so fast. Sting glanced back at her from over his shoulders, and shook his head, saying that now that she was there she might as well have fun.

"You'll see, this will be so great you won't even want to leave afterwards," he affirmed, offering a broad smile. "Just try not to fall in love with me."

The water mage rolled her eyes at him, but finally let him pull her along, guiding her through the busy streets and skilfully manoeuvring them through the crowd to avoid bumping into people. At first, Juvia didn't really pay attention to the contact, until they finally got out of the crowd and Sting kept her hand in his, leading the way. Now that she was struggling to keep up and avoid pushing people anymore, she was very much aware of the warmth of the touch, and couldn't help herself but start blushing at the thought. Luckily, the dragon slayer wasn't paying attention to her at the moment, more focused on where he was going.

They kept walking through the capital for at least five minutes, and Juvia was barely paying attention to where they were going, looking with marvel at the limitless amound of flowers adorning every house, bar and sidewalk. At some point, while she was looking behind her, taking one last look at a beautiful garden near the residences, her view was suddenly blocked by a wall and her surroundings got darker. She looked back in front of her, noticing that Sting was taking her through a narrowed alleyway. The walls of the buildings were so high they completely blocked out the light, and Juvia unconsciously squeezed Sting's hand, not feeling as safe as she did before. From what she had seen in the magazines, Juvia would've expected Sting to slow down a little, squeeze her hand back or throw her a quick glance to reassure her, because he was often described as a real charmer, but after that day, she had quickly come to the realization that Sting wasn't what the Sorcerer Magazine pictured him like. The medias wanted to draw attention, that's why they made people believe the blond was nothing more than what he showed to strangers, an arroguant but handsome man with a dazzling smile, but Juvia now knew that he was more like Natsu than she would've thought. The beaming dragon slayers had the same broad smile, cheerful attitude and childish manners when they were with their friends. That's why Juvia wasn't surprised when Sting didn't worry about her like a cliché gentleman would have, and just kept running, his grip still firm around her hand so he wouldn't lose her.

They kept running through what Juvia guessed was a shortcut for a few more minutes until she started losing patience. She hadn't come into Crocus, the flower blooming capital, to visit a dark alleyway! Although, she had technically come into Crocus because she was drunk and had run into Sting, but that wasn't the point. She was about to ask Sting if it was really his idea of a great visit, when the dragon slayer suddenly took a sharp turn on their right and the light flooded back in, almost blinding Juvia. The water mage squinted her eyes, trying to block out the light with her hand, but after a few seconds her eyes finally adjusted to the light, the bluenette felt her breath hitch in her throat. She barely heard Sting's chuckle at her reaction from beside her, incapable of tearing her eyes way from the view displayed in front of her.

What seemed like a hundred of colorful stalls all lined up and creating a wonderful maze through which all the habitants of the capital were wandering, looking at the products and activities. It seemed like each stall was decorated with flowers, even the ones who had nothing to do with nature. There wasn't a single spot that wasn't covored in dozens of colors. Juvia found herself wanting to jump in the crowd for the first time of the day.

"The biggest market of the whole land," Sting declared proudly with a broad smile on his face. "The Nakamise Market."

He looked away from the place to glance at the bluenette, and this one beamed at him before grabbing his wrist and pulling him towards the firsts stalls, diving back into the crowd. Sting let out another chuckle at how excited she seemed. Even though he loved his friends, he never got this kind of reactions with Yukino and Rogue. They were either exasperated or amused by his antics but never as excited as him. He was glad to see that, for once, he was going to spend his afternoon with someone who truly enjoyed things.

They spent around thirty minutes wandering through the market, stopping everytime a stall had caught Juvia's eyes, which was a lot of times. When they finally exited the the market, Sting showed her different places of the capital, acting like a guide. When he was finally done showing her all the touristic places that were a must-see in the town, they started heading back to the station, Sting once again leading the way. A comfortable silence settled between them, until Juvia broke it, saying that she didn't know Crocus was such a beautiful town.

"Of course you didn't, your guild spent its entire time here in bars," Sting snorted.

She shot him a sideway glare, and wanted nothing more than to retort something clever, but knew that it was a lost cause. He was right, apart from the bars, Fairy Tail hadn't visited a lot of places in the capital during the Grand Magic Games. They were too focused on the competition to really enjoy anything else.

She was about to admit that he was right, when they walked past a flight of stairs that lead the way to Sabertooth and that seemed to catch Sting's interest. A grin spread across his face as he pointed it out to Juvia, once again taking his guide voice. "On your left you can see stairs on which you probably fell," he indicated, making the bluenette chuckle behind her hand. "You can check your knees for reliable sources."

They were barely able to made another step before he talked again, pointing at a bench near those stairs. "And here's where we probably stopped and thought to ourselves _"You know what would be even better than getting married and changing guild? Sleeping together"_ ," he declared, rolling his eyes at their antics, before a smirk stretched across his lips. "I won't lie, I still approve of that idea."

"Of course Sting-san do," Juvia snorted, until a thought suddenly popped in her mind. "Does Sting-san often offer a visit of the town to his one night stands?"

The blond shrugged. "Not really, consider yourself lucky," he winked, making her chuckle.

They kept walking in silence for a few minutes until they crossed path with a street light that weirdly caught Juvia's attention. She slowed down and stared at it for a few seconds, narrowing her eyes. She felt like she was supposed to know this spot. Something had probably happened there the night before, she wished she knew what.

When the bluenette looked back at Sting, she saw that this one was also staring at the street light with a thoughtful look on his face. She wondered for a second if he had more memories than her from their night. She let out a sigh, drawing Sting's attention back to her. He turned his head towards her, instantly noticing how troubled she looked, and frowned before asking her what was on her mind. Juvia slightly shook her head, and simply answered that weirdly, she kind of wished she could remember the night before. Sting's eyebrows instantly shot up, and she felt the need to justify herself.

"She's still kind of ashamed because she usually doesn't do that," she quickly added, putting her hands in front of her innocently. She made a small pause, looking conflicted, as if she didn't know if she wanted to tell him so many things or not, before looking down. "It's just that... It must have been fun to stop caring about things for at least one night."

"Why should you only stop caring for one night?"

Looking back up, she locked eyes with Sting, a slight frown forming upon her features. He had a slight smile on his lips, with a mix of mischief and kindness sparkling in his eyes. He was definitely preparing something, and she didn't know yet if she wanted to discover what it was. The water mage hadn't known him for long, but if there was one thing she was sure about, it was that, as fun as life could be with him, it could also end up in a disaster. She wanted that fun, she needed it more than anything right now in her life, but she didn't know if she was ready to take the risk.

As if to confirm her suspicion, Sting extended his hand towards her. "Come on, I'll show you something," he smiled at her. "It'll make you fall in love with this city."

There was only ten minutes left until their train left the station. It was reckless, it was stupid, and it made it all very unlikely for Juvia to take his hand. The toothy grin he was offering her made it clear that it was probably a terrible decision, and even the mere eventuality of her following him made her heart beat like crazy... And it was exactly why she took his hand.

Juvia already knew she'd regret it later, but her life terribly lacked bad decisions and it was time to remedy that.


	4. Life is great without a care

Juvia hated Crocus. It was a wonderful town, she grew more fond of it with every minute spent there, and now, she was afraid she'd never want to leave again. She had only been there for a day, and yet, she had discovered more about this town in a few hours than she had during a full week with the Grand Magic Games. When the bluenette had first traveled there, she had thought that, yes, the flowers here were quite beautiful and the town was really animated, but it wasn't really surprising since they were hosting the biggest tournament in the land. She didn't know back then that this festive atmosphere lasted the whole year.

Now, if she hadn't already fallen in love with the gardens, the market or the polite and wholesome people living there, Juvia was definitely falling for the way her heart fluttered as Sting led her through the streets of Crocus, his fingers tightly wrapped around her wrist. They were quickly manoeuvring through the crowds, stalls and houses, and the world around the water mage was a blur of colorful buildings and silhouettes as she blindly followed the blond, trying her best to keep up with how fast he was going.

After a few sharp turns, he finally slowed down before stopping dead in his tracks, and Juvia bumped directly into him, before taking a step back to scowl at the back of his head. He stiffled a laugh, and, before she could even start to curse him out, took a step aside, finally allowing her to see where he had taken her. A confused frown instantly darkened her features as Juvia recognized the place. It was a busy street they had strode through earlier while visiting. It was nothing special, the street was just a little larger than the others, and the crowd was better distributed so people could actually walk without bumping into someone every two minutes. It looked like a main street, and Juvia had no idea why Sting had led her here.

She turned her head towards Sting, shooting him a confused look. The blond rolled his eyes, and put his hand between her back as he started walking again, leading her to a part of the main street near a foutain where a few people were gathered around something she couldn't quite see yet. "See, we have some great traditions in Crocus," the dragon slayer explained, as Juvia started to hear some music playing while they got closer.

The music kept getting louder and louder until they reached the front of the crowd. Sting pulled her a little so she would stand beside him, when she finally saw the band playing in front of the foutain. There was a guitare, a violin and a drum, and together they were playing a quiet music that radiated a peaceful atmosphere through the whole street. The crowd had formed a circle around them, and Juvia could see a few people tapping their foot or slightly moving along, as if they were fighting off the need to swing along. Juvia exchanged a glance with Sting, still feeling like there was something else. This one grinned at her. "I'm about to show you the best tradition in this town," he winked, before taking a step forward to drop a few jewels in the hat sitting right in front of the band on the pavement. The violonist looked up from his instrument to exchanged a wicked grin with him, before starting to speed up the tempo, tapping his foot on the ground under Juvia's curious eyes. She heard a few people cheer from behind her, as if they had been waiting for someone to bribe the band. Sting turned back to her, a toothy grin playing on his lips, and Juvia quickly realized that the band had sped up their music, going from a quiet and slow melody to a festive and energic music.

"In Crocus," he started as he extended a hand to her, "we never let someone dance on their own."

The water mage looked around her and saw that the people tapping their foot on the ground and slightly swaying along had started dancing, and what felt like the broadest smile of her life spread across her lips, almost hurting her cheeks. But then, she turned back to look at Sting, and realization dawned on her when she saw him holding his hand out to her.

"Sting-san wants to dance with Juvia?" He nodded, keeping a smile on his face as if he already knew how this would end, which he probably did. "No!"

"Juve, Juve, Juve..." Sting sighed, as he took a step towards her to gently take her hand in his. "I said I would make you fall in love with this town, and I'm a man of my word."

Juvia hesitated for a few seconds, warily looking at his hand as if he was trying to kill her, before sighing in defeat and recluctantly accepting his hand. He unexpectedly pulled her towards him and she let out a tiny squeal when he did so, feeling her chest pressed against his. "Ju-Juvia doesn't know how to dance on this..." she admitted, her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. The blond shrugged and simply told her to take example on another couple, jerking his chin towards two people. Juvia glanced at them, before swatting his arm with a scowl on her face.

"These people are kissing!"

"I was actually pointing at these two," Sting snorted, showing another couple right beside the kissing one, "but if that's what you wanna do, I'm not against it at all."

The water mage rolled her eyes at him, and was about to detach herself from him, while a faint feeling of disappointment settled in the pit of her stomach. She barely had time to take a step back when Sting gently snaked an arm around her waist to bring her back to him. "Just try to follow the rhythm," he smiled at her, before he started dancing along to the music while the bluenette clumsily followed his movements.

She had never seen this kind of dance before, and yet, as soon as she started following it, she wondered why the entire world wasn't dancing it too. It wasn't too complicated and it felt like everyone was dancing together at the same rhythm, all sharing the same experience and wearing the brightest smile possible. Juvia had barely started dancing when she decided that she never wanted to stop. It especially involved the legs, which meant she stepped on Sting's feet quite a few times, but as soon as she picked up the rhythm she was able to do it with her eyes closed. The tempo seemed to get even faster with the minutes and everyone was skillfully following it, dancing at a crazy pace.

The water mage thought she had only closed her eyes for a few seconds, and yet, at the same time, it felt like she had been dancing for an eternity, and when she opened her eyes again, her glance immediately landed on Sting, locking eyes with him. She only noticed then how close they were, and for some reason she wouldn't be able to explain, she leaned her body toward him even more as she started slowing down in her dancing, not caring the slightest when she was out of rhythm. He seemed disconcerted for a second, but quickly regain his composure and mimicked her action, slightly leaning toward her as he snaked an arm back around her waist. She could see the hint of a smile on his lips and wondered if she was also smiling or if her cheeks were simply sore from how much she had done it during the dance. Juvia never wanted to let go of that feeling. Sting was right, why should she only stop caring for one night? Having her cheeks sore from smiling and her legs hurting from dancing on the same rhythm with dozens of people while feeling like they all shared the same heartbeat was how she wanted to feel everyday. Not just on a drunken night, and especially not just during a few minutes spent in Crocus. Sting was right. Juvia didn't want to leave anymore.

Deep in her thoughts, the water mage didn't even notice Sting and her weren't moving anymore. They were both facing each other, her chest pressed against his, with Sting's hands around her waist, and the world around them was like in a blur, with dozens of couples dancing and spinning at a crazy pace around them. She was staring deeply into his eyes, her mind drowning in a sea of thoughts. She was still high on adrenaline, and right now all she wanted for this moment to never end. If Juvia wasn't so happy at the moment, she would've felt terribly ashamed of her thoughts, but it didn't matter right now. Nothing mattered.

"So..." Sting smirked, still holding her tightly against him. "Did you fall in love yet?"

A small smile spread across Juvia's lips, and she was about to answer, when she suddenly heard the music slow down, followed by cheers from the crowd around them. The bluenette's eyes instantly widened, as if the spell had just broken. "The train..." she muttered, her eyes unfocused, before she suddenly snapped her head back up, locking eyes with Sting. "Our train!"

It took him a moment to realize what she was saying, still wrapped in an atmosphere of dance and happiness. When he finally understood what she meant, his face dropped and colors drained from his face. "Oh shit," he breathed out, before suddenly turning around, dashing through the crowd, "Come on we can still make it!"

Juvia quickly scurried after him, and they both made their way through the crowds the best way they could, trying to manoeuvre between the people while bolting down the streets. While the water mage kept apologizing to everyone and asking them to step aside politely as she rushed through the town, Sting kept repeating the word "shit" over and over again as he hurried to get to the train station as fast as he could.

By the time they finally reached the station, the train had barely started leaving, unlike Juvia's soul which was completely gone. She was panting, she couldn't feel her legs anymore and her lungs felt like she had adopted Natsu's diet and eaten fire. Sure she was a strong mage and she was really good at fighting with and without her powers, but running was just out of the question for her. She loathed it, this activity belonged in hell and she never wanted to do it again.

She slowed down a little when they were only a few feet away from it, thinking that it was over since it was already leaving the station, when Sting sped up, running past her, and jumped directly onto the rear platform of the train in one gigantic leap. He then turned around and extended a hand to Juvia, who rolled her eyes before speeding up again. She easily caught up with the train and grabbed Sting's hand, after what he easily hauled her onto the train. The only problem was that he put a little too much strenght into it, and, sadly, Juvia didn't land directly onto him like in her romantic books, but landed face-first directly onto the hard wood of the train while Sting fell backward. She let out a painful groan as she flipped onto her back, shooting Sting a sideway glare when she heard him burst in laughter next to her.

"You have to admit," he managed to say between two chuckles, laughing so hard his eyes were closed, "that was hilarious."

Despite her attempt to keep a straight face so she could glare at the dragon slayer, Juvia quickly felt a smile pulling at the corners of her lips, and soon couldn't stifle her laugh, chuckling along with him. They looked like real idiots, laying down on the platform of the train and laughing together about some stupid thin they had just done. They stayed down for a few minutes before Juvia finally got up and went to lean on the barrier, looking at the horizon as they got further and further away from Crocus. She felt a pinch in her heart, already knowing she'd miss the capital even though she had only been there for one day. It had felt like the craziest hours of her life, if not the best. She didn't know what if was about this town that made her feel so carefree and reckless, but she liked it.

The water mage let out a quiet sigh, and heard Sting join her, leaning against the barrier beside her as he asked her what was wrong. "Juvia feels like she's gonna miss this a little," the bluenette admitted, keeping her eyes unfocused, deep in her thoughts. "She has never felt this free before."

"You're really great at keeping yourself from having fun, aren't you?"

Juvia turned her head towards him, giving him a puzzled look. "What does Sting-san mean?"

"The fun you had today, and probably last night too, it can happen again you know," Sting shrugged, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Of course not!" Juvia squealed back, suddenly looking offended. "It was... It was really wrong. Juvia shouldn't have done what she did last night."

"Aouch, hurtful," Sting retorted with a blank look, a hint of amusement still sparkling in his eyes.

The water mage was expecting him to end the conversation there, but the dragon slayer then asked her why she found this so wrong. She slightly furrowed her eyebrows in concentration, as if she didn't even know the answer herself, before answering that she simply couldn't sleep around like that, that it was bad and that she still felt kind of ashamed of it. Sting's eyebrows shot up at her answer, as an amused smile appeared on his face. "What century are you living in, woman?" he mocked her.

Juvia stared back at him with a perplex look on her face. "x791?"

"Alright, no, you're missing my point," Sting laughed, shaking his head. "Did you ever see me get shamed by Sorcerer Magazine when I slept with women?"

"No, why?" Juvia frowned, not getting where he was going with this.

"Did you ever even dared to look down at your alcoholic friend-" he started before being cut off by Juvia, who reminded him of the mage's name, making him roll his eyes.

"Look down at Cana," he corrected himself, "because she slept with someone?"

"Of course not!" Juvia snapped back, before suddenly realizing where this was heading. Sting gave her a deadpan look and she instantly felt her cheeks redden, knowing he had just tricked her into admitting herself that it wasn't something to be ashamed about. Already knowing the water mage was going to be stubborn about this, the blond insisted a little more, asking her why it would be different with her. Juvia looked down at her hands, fiddling with the elastic around her wrist. She already knew the answer to that. After a few seconds during which she stubbornly kept quiet, Juvia quietly admitted that she didn't want people to know she had slept with someone.

She didn't even need to look at Sting to know this one was looking at her with a bewildered expression, and when he insisted even more and asked her why she didn't want people to know, she had no other choice than to admit the truth. She sighed, opening her mouth to answer him, when the blond suddenly cut her off.

"Oh, wait, it's because of that ice mage, isn't it?" he asked her. "What was his name again?"

"Gray-sama," Juvia sighed, knowing there was other no way for her to escape this conversation than to jump from the platform.

"Alright, so you don't want Gray-sama to know?" Sting started off, almost making Juvia choke when she heard the honorific.

"Sting-san isn't supposed to call him Gray-sa-" she tried to correct him, before he cut her off.

"Did you ever hear about the wonderful concept of jealousy, Juvia?" the blond asked her with a solemn tone, as if he was teaching her about the secrets of the universe. "He learns you slept with me, he becomes jealous, tells you how much he loves you, and before you even know it, bam, married."

He looked really proud of his plan at the moment, but, sadly, Juvia wasn't really convinced and she had a hard time hiding it. She still felt really embarrassed about the night they had spent together, and, even though he didn't understand why, he had to respect it. He thought he was going to help her, or at least cheer her up, but the water mage was now looking back at the view on front of them with a hint of sadness hiding in her deep blue eyes. She was regretting it, he could see it. She regretted ever running into him at the bar, and he hated the fact that he was the one who had suddenly caused that.

"Hey," Sting quietly called her, putting a hand on her arm to bring her attention back to him, "we don't have to tell him, you know."

He saw her perk up at that, her eyes sparkling in relief, and instantly felt a smile creep onto his face at the sight. "Sting-san would lie for Juvia?"

"Of course," he assured her. "You were willing to lie for me, why wouldn't I be too?"

Juvia felt her smile widen at his words, her heart already a lot lighter than earlier. She shyly thanked him, quickly looking back at the view when she felt herself squirm under his penetrating stare. She heard him quietly chuckle at her, but didn't scowl at him as she usually would have. Instead, she affectionately pushed him, shaking her head at him.

Weirdly, she felt like the journey wasn't over yet, and, for some reasons, she was not even remotely bothered by it.


	5. This is how we get notorious

During this travel, Juvia had come to realize that discovering oneself truly was an endless journey. In less than twenty-four hours, she had learned so many things about herself; she had almost discovered a brand new side of her personnality. She had learned that she could be reckless and make a thousands of terrible mistakes in one night, that she could meet new friends without immediately thinking they were gonna hate her... She had also came to realize that she was her own person, and that she could be so much more than just a girl in love, but she had decided to ignore this part, not ready to face this harsh reality. She didn't like how this new "personnality" shadowed her love for her Gray-sama, and she wasn't sure she liked it yet.

The point was, during this weekend, Juvia had come to realize that she was so much more than the plain, boring girl she had always thought she was. On a darker side, she had also learned that she wasn't that great of a listener. Wait, no, it was a poor choice of words. She was a great listener, even the best. Maybe she was just a little too self-centered, maybe a little too selfish. Maybe she didn't pay enough attention to the rest of the world, too focused on her love for a certain ice mage, because, when she started asking Sting about his life to try to distract him from his sickness during the one hour of train, she realized that she actually didn't know anything about him.

"Sting-san and Rogue have known each other for their whole life?" Juvia asked, flabbergasted.

The blond was resting his head against the window of the train, looking sickingly pale and trying his best to ignore the shaking glass bumping against his skull once in a while because of the unsteady train. He had his eyes closed but his eyebrows furrowed in pain made it clear that he wasn't sleeping. He slightly nodded, and took a second before huskily answering that yes, they were basically brothers at this point. Juvia nodded, even though he couldn't see her at the moment, before thinking out loud that they had an interesting friendship.

Sting cracked an eye open, his eyebrows furrowing a little more in confusion as he asked her what was so interesting about it. Juvia shrugged, answering that they were just a lot different and that was all. Sting was outgoing, cheerful and either really childish or charming, meanwhile Rogue was more reserved, responsible and mysterious. Even their appearances were like the day and the night, they were a real cliché, the ying and the yang.

"Yeah, you're right," Sting scoffed, "because you and Gajeel are sooo alike."

"Well, yes," Juvia retorted with a blank look. "We used to be."

The conversation apparently got a lot more interesting for Sting, who made the effort to open his other eye, his attention now fully on Juvia. "You what?" he repeated, his eyebrows knitted in confusion. He knew how Gajeel acted, and he knew how Juvia was. Something definitely didn't add up.

The water mage was just glad to see that he was just as clueless as she was. Maybe she wasn't actually that self-centered. Alright, maybe she was getting ahead of herself, she definitely was way too focused on her and her "love story" with Gray, but it wasn't actually that bad. Sting didn't know a lot of things about her either, even though they had encountered a few times already before the infamous night, and yet, he definitely wasn't head over heels with Rogue or Yukino.

"Juvia wasn't always like this," the water mage shrugged. "She used to be a lot more gloomy when she was in Phantom Lord. She was as cold as Gajeel, and he was actually the only one with who she acted a little more like today."

"I really can't picture you acting cold. It seems too weird for me," Sting retorted, scrunching his nose in disbelief.

Juvia shrugged indifferently, as she answered that she took it as a compliment. The dragon slayer retorted that she should with a detached voice, as he closed his eyes again and went back to leaning his head against the glass. A comfortable silence settled between them for a few minutes until the train ran throught he tiniest bump, making the glass shake until Sting head and eliciting a painful grunt from the blond. Juvia shot him a sympathic look, but he still had his eyes forced shut, trying to ignore his sickness, the pain, and the stupid glass that kept jittering against his head.

An idea popped up in Juvia's mind, and she started blushing just at the thought of it, now glad that Sting didn't have his eyes open. She kept staring at him for a while with her cheeks flushed and her fists tightly clenched, fighting her own thoughts. It wasn't even that big of a deal for most people, but for her, shy and devoted Juvia, it was quite an uncommon thought. After a while, she finally stopped overthinking it, or at least she thought so, until she opened her mouth and no words passed her lips. She closed it again, and looked away, before clearing her throat. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Sting cracking an eye open to give her a questionning look.

"Would... Would Sting-san like to lean his head on Juvia's shoulder?" the water mage hesitantly asked, still refusing to meet his eyes. "It would probably be more comfortable than the window." she then quickly added when she saw his eyebrows shoot up in bewilderment.

There was a beat of silence as he stared at her silently with an unreadable expression on his face which made Juvia squirm on her seat, until a small smile finally stretched across his lips. "That'd be nice, thanks," he mumbled, weirdly nice. Maybe he was too exhausted to act like the arrogant and annoying man he usually was, or maybe he truly was thankful. Juvia would never know.

Trying her hardest to hide her rosy cheeks, the water mage kept her head low as she moved from her banquette to go sit next to Sting, and also tried her best not to evaporate on her seat when she felt the dragon slayer lay his head on her shoulder, moving a little to adjust himself before letting out a content sigh. She started blushing furiously, looking down at her hands as she fiddled with the sleeves of Yukino's jacket. She was already regretting her proposition, but at the same time it felt nice to know that she was helping him. Shooting a brief glance towards the blond, Juvia noticed that, despite how sickingly pale he still looked, he wasn't frowning anymore and already seemed calmer than before, the corners of his lips ever so slightly turned upwards. He reminded her of a cat.

Stiffling a chuckle, Juvia put a hand in front of her mouth and looked away, when Sting's husky voice suddenly erupted beside her. "Stop staring," he mumbled with a smirk on his face, his eyes still closed.

This time, Juvia couldn't hold back her laugh, and Sting had to open his eyes when he felt her shoulders shake from laughing underneath him. He shot her a questionning look and she rolled her eyes at him. "Sting-san was ten seconds too late, Juvia wasn't looking at him anymore," the bluenette snorted.

"Ah, damn," Sting cursed, closing his eyes again, "Maybe next time."

"There won't be a next time," Juvia reminded him, not even believing her words herself.

"Yeah, sure," the blond smiled, apparently not convinced either. "Keep telling yourself that."

Juvia huffed and crossed her arms against her chest, ignoring Sting's quiet chuckle as she stubborningly kept pouting. However, she quickly failed when she heard Sting's breathing become steady and peeked at the dragon slayer, an affectionate smile instantly pulling at the corner of her lips when she saw how peaceful he looked at the moment.

Ignoring how worrisome her fluttering heart was, Juvia carefully moved a little to adjust herself before leaning her head against Sting's, closing her eyes in an attempt to also get some sleep. There was a time and a place for everything, and worrying about her weird feelings wasn't something Juvia wanted to think about at the moment. All she wanted to do was sleep, and if it had to be a nap pressed against Sting, feeling his soothing heart beat against her arm and his soft breath against her cheek, then so be it. Juvia wasn't about to complain.

"Come on sleeping beauty, it's time to stop slobbering over my shirt and wake up."

Juvia fluttered her eyes open, her glance immediately landing on Sting's amused smile. She stiffled a yawn and slightly furrowed her eyebrows, completely disoriented, until she remembered where they were. She immediately glared at the blond, hissing that she didn't slobber. At the moment, she didn't even pay mind to the fact that, even though at first the dragon slayer was the one leaning on her, during her sleep she had probably moved and ended up napping on Sting's shoulder.

The blond arched an eyebrow at her answer, and pointed out the very small, but still very present wet spot on the tissue of his shirt. Juvia felt her cheeks heating up, before crossing her arms against her chest and looking away stubbornly, muttering that Sting was the worst. This one chuckled at that, and this time didn't retort anything, simply making his way out of the train without waiting for her. Juvia quickly got up on her feet, and, unsurprisingly, her head started spinning and she had to close her eyes for a few seconds before the dizziness finally went away. When she opened her eyes and looked back up, she saw that Sting was actually waiting for her by the exit. He was staring directly at her, patiently waiting for her, and, for some reasons, it made Juvia's cheeks flush. She had always kind of felt invisible her whole life, not as important as the other people, as if she was just a background character of her own life. Being in love with her precious Gray-sama who never even deigned to go talk to her on his own initiative hadn't really made things easier for her, but, with Sting, it was oddly different. She felt like she mattered. She had gone on her own adventure the night she had left Magnolia to go to a bar where she was sure she wouldn't run into anyone she knew, and she had finally become the main character of her own life. Sting paid attention to her, tried to cheer her up... He made her feel like she mattered.

"You're coming?" the blond asked her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Juvia nodded, thankful he hadn't noticed her flushed cheeks, or at least thankful that he wasn't commenting on it. She quickly joined him as he got off the train, and they both made their way towards the guild. The closer they got to the building, the more uncomfortable the water mage started feeling, and the fact that she could feel a few curious glances on them wasn't helping. People were wondering why the master of Sabertooth and a mage from Fairy Tail were hanging out together, and they were right to do so. This was highly unusual, and what was about to happen between the walls of her guild wasn't going to make it better.

Totally unaware of how uncomfortable his friend was, Sting was walking beside her calmly, looking at his surroundings as they went through the main street of Magnolia. This town sure wasn't comparable to Crocus, but it had its charm. There wasn't the same festive atmosphere as in the capital, it was less animated and colorful, but the beauty of Magnolia resided in its calm. Sting didn't have to manoeuvre through a crowd, or to try to ignore the music around him because it was too loud for his enhanced hearing. They were calmly walking along the canal, enjoying the nice weather of the late afternoon. Sure, he enjoyed crowds and events much more, but it was still relaxing compared to what he was used to.

He was still deep in his thoughts, walking next to a very concerned-looking Juvia with his arms behind his head, when his ears perked up at the sound of hushered words near them. "Isn't that Juvia with Sting from Sabertooth?"

Sting noticed Juvia visibly stiffening from the corner of his eyes, and turned his head to look at the hushering woman as he kept walking, glaring at the two old ladies sitting down at the table of a café with magazines in their hands. One of them had her hand in front of her mouth, probably thinking this would kept them from hearing what she had just said to her friend.

"Yes, apparently they were seen together yesterday at a bar," the other replied, hiding her lips with her hand in the same lame attempt at being discreet.

Sting let out a low growl, startling the two old women. They snapped their heads back towards the couple, before quickly looking away, seemingly very embarrassed by their own shameful behaviors. Juvia shot the blond a discreet, thankful glance, to which he replied by snaking his arm around her waist and bringing him closer with a toothy grin on his face. "See how much fame sleeping with the master of a guild brought you?" he smirked. "No need to thank me."

Juvia laughed at that and playfully swatted his arm, before falling back into silence. They kept walking quietly for a couple more minutes, until the bluenette shyly asked Sting if he didn't find it weird. The dragon slayer loosened his grip on her so he could move back to properly give her a questionning look, asking her what she meant.

"That whole situation," Juvia shrugged, stubborningly staring at the canal instead of meeting his eyes. "Us acting like friends after we..."

She trailed off, not really wanting to say these words out loud, as childish as it may seem. Sting arched an eyebrow at that, a smirk playing on his lips as he probably wondered if he wanted to embarrass her by finishing her sentence with a few colourful words and details. Finally turning her head toward him, Juvia locked eyes with him and, noticing the glint of mischief in his eyes, gave him a warning look. Sting stiffled a laugh, trying his best to stay serious.

"Honestly, it's not that weird," he shrugged. He only had to think about it for a second to wince and quickly correct himself. "Alright, maybe it's that weird," he admitted. "But you're weird, I like you, so I don't care if we began off the wrong foot. Even though I wouldn't consider this beginning off the wrong foot at all..."

Juvia snickered, this time not even bothering to swat his arm. If she hit him everytime he said something dumb or inappropriate, she would end up breaking her wrist. Instead, she slighty shook her head, feeling an affectionate smile pull at the corners of her lips. Maybe he was right, maybe she was asking herself too many questions and making her life difficult for nothing. She was really good at that. Instead of enjoying her great friendship with Gajeel, she worried about him getting closer to Levy than her; instead of feeling more than happy to be a part of Fairy Tail, the best guild in the world, she told herself she wasn't good enough to be part of this family; and, of course, instead of fully living her life as a young and powerful mage, she cried over someone who didn't love her, or at least didn't show it.

Maybe Sting was right. Why could she only be reckless and free for one night? Not caring about things was the best feeling in the world, and now that she realized it, Juvia wanted nothing more than to feel the adrenaline she had felt this afternoon and the night before again.

"Maybe Sting-san is right," the water mage smiled gently. "Maybe things are only weird if we think about it."

She turned her head to look back in front of her, already feeling lighter than before, when her glance fell onto something that immediately put the weight of the world back on her shoulders. They were only a few feet away from her guild. Colors drained from her face, as Juvia looked up, the tall building towering over her and casting a gigantic shadow over the two friends. Before she could even think aloud about how frightening Fairy Tail suddenly looked to her, Sting made the two last steps and opened the doors wide. They took a step in.

"Juvia?"

There had never been a more deafening silence in the whole universe.

It was like opening the door had suddenly put everyone on mute, and every single head in the guild was now turned towards them, staring at the both of them with a puzzled look. No one dared to talk, and Juvia kept scanning her surroundings, desesperately looking for a friendly face like Mirajane or Gajeel. Sadly, she was too agitated to think straight, and was also very much aware of the arm around her waist, radiating a warmth that made her feel more comfortable and more self-conscious at the same time. Juvia wanted to cry.

"Juvia, I've been waiting for you!" a voice suddenly shouted, followed by quick footsteps.

The water mage barely had time to turn her head to her right before Bisca almost slammed into her, barely stopping in time. She was only inches away from her and grabbed her two wrists, looking more than relieved. Alzack was a few steps behind her, slightly embarrassed.

Bisca quickly glanced at Sting and offered him a small smile as she saluted her, before turning back to Juvia. She lifted Juvia's left hand, taking a look at the ring on her finger. The bluenette instantly turned red, and opened her mouth, about to apologize profusely, when the woman cut her off. "I'm so glad you still have it!" she sighed in relief, suddenly wrapping the water mage in a warm embrace. "I ran into you at the bar on my way to pick up Cana and kind of went overboard. I can't believe I gave you my ring," she chuckled, slightly squeezing Juvia as to show the bluenette her gratitude. Juvia let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and smiled, finally responding to the hug and putting her arms around Bisca. Sting almost felt a smile tug at the corners of his lips at the sight, until Bisca moved back, and fished something in her skirt's pocket before handing Juvia something.

"Here's yours," she smiled, with in her hand a thin white gold band with a beautiful aquamarine stone.

Juvia's face visibly paled, and Sting would've put an arm behind her to make sure he'd be able to catch her in case she fainted, if he wasn't concerned about himself losing consciousness. He was also staring at the ring with an horrified expression, all colors drained from his face.

There was another ring.

They truly were married.


	6. This dream isn't feeling sweet

Sting visibly paled, but instantly reacted and went to stand slightly behind Juvia, ready to catch her when she'd faint again. This one stayed upright on her feet, but her eyes kept flickering from the ring back to Bisca. "... What's that?" she asked, her throat suddenly really dry.

"Your ring," the woman answered, her eyebrows slightly furrowed in confusion.

"Juvia's what?"

"Ring."

"No," Juvia disagreed, shaking her head.

"I insist," Bisca frowned, gently taking Juvia's hand in hers to put the beautiful jewel in the palm of her hand.

Juvia kept her hand open, staring at the ring and stubborningly refusing to take it. It wasn't her ring, it couldn't be. "It's... It's a... No," she tripped over her words, her eyes glued on her now shaking hand. There was an awkward beat of silence as Bisca and Alzack exchanged a puzzled look, not understanding what was going on. Sure it was a weird situation, but she was simply giving her back a random wedding ring Juvia had given her at the bar. She didn't know if it was really hers, but, since the water mage had given it to her, she must have known what it was. She didn't even consider the idea of Sting and her having gotten married, the idea seemed absurd.

She felt relieved when Sting swooped in and grabbed the ring. "Thanks, Bisca," he smiled as he took the jewel away from the bluenette. She felt like a weight had been taken away from her shoulders, until the dragon slayer gently took her hand in his to put the ring back on her finger, offering her a devilish smirk as he did so. She furrowed her eyebrows, responding to his mischievous eyes with a glare, and was about to snap when he cut her. "Come on honey, we need to go see the master," he said, his sugarcoated voice dripping with cheekiness. Once again, he took her hand in his to pull her towards the stairs, leaning confidentially towards Alzack when he walked past him. "Wives, am I right?" he teased, nudging him. By now, Juvia was the one tugging him towards the stairs, wanting nothing more than to get him away from any member of her guild. She was red as a beet, and was more than thankful when Sting finally let her tug him along, waving a quick goodbye to the bewildered couple before he caught up with her, teasingly snaking an arm around her waist just to see if she could become even redder. She didn't, but the water mage still turned her head towards him with a scowl on her face, before looking back in front of her, slightly shaking her head in indignation.

"Juvia can't believe Sting-san just-" she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes wide.

Her glance fell onto a particular table in the guild well-known because of its occupants. Her eyes quickly went over Natsu and Erza's bewildered expressions, before she locked eyes with a pair of dark, furious irises she knew by heart. Her blood went cold, and, reacting on instincts, she moved away from Sting, feeling the blond's arm slip away from her waist. She didn't notice the concerned and surprised look the dragon slayer gave her, her eyes still glued on a certain ice mage, until she squirmed under his dark stare and looked down at the wooden floor. Sting noticed her odd behavior and looked up to see what she had been staring at. As soon as he locked eyes with the source of her sadness, his features darkened and he had to fight back the growl crawling up his throat. He had noticed how Juvia had flinched under his glare, noticed how uncomfortable she currently was, and wanted nothing more than to go punch this stupid and rude ice man. Instead, he slung his arm around the bluenette's shoulders, maintening the eye contact with Gray as he did so, a smirk playing on his lips, before leading them both towards the stairs. As they made their way upstairs, Sting had to stiffle a laugh a couple times, feeling Juvia's heating form under his arm and Gray's glare on his back. God, if he had known it was gonna be this much fun, he would've slept with that awesome woman ages ago.

As they both made their way upstairs, Sting started noticing how tensed Juvia was under his touch. He could almost feel her shaking in anxiousness, her dreading anticipation getting to him. When they finally reached the door, neither of them made a move to knock. Sting threw a cautious glance towards Juvia, who was too busy worrying sickingly to even notice him. He let out a sigh, and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly, drawing her attention back to him. She looked up at him with her wide doe eyes sparkling with worry. Her eyebrows were knitted together as she stared at him with a look that pleaded him to somehow help her avoid this confrontation, and, if he hadn't been so clueless about his feelings, Sting would've noticed the way his hurt painfully clutched at the sight.

Offering her a faint smile, the dragon slayer opened his mouth, ready to tell her anything that would make her feel better, when the door suddenly whipped open before them.

"I've been expecting you two."

There, standing before them was a really pissed-looking Makaroff, and any reassuring thought Sting had in mind suddenly vanished. They barely had time to answer before Makaroff walked back to his desk, leaving the door open behind him for the two to follow him. The mages exchanged an apprehensive glance, already knowing there'd be a lot more listening than explaining during this meeting. From the look the old man had given them, Juvia knew what she had to do, sit down and stay quiet, so she entered the office without a word, followed closely by Sting.

Usually, the bluenette would've immediately gone to sit down, looking down in shame as she picked on her fingernails, but not this time. This time, when Sting stayed up before the desk, with his arms crossed against his chest, knowing they had done nothing wrong and refusing to take the blame, Juvia didn't even need to think twice about it before staying upright beside him. They had known each other for only two days, and yet, they already worked as a pair.

When Makaroff sat down at his desk, facing them again, his eyebrows ever so slightly shot up at the sight of the two of them standing strong next to each other, but, surprisingly, there wasn't any distate in his eyes. Where she expected to meet irritation and disappointment, Juvia noticed a hint of amusement glinting in the master's eyes, only a second before the older man regained his composure. It was brief, but still enough to help her feel better, easing her tensed shoulder. She knew Sting had noticed it too when she felt him shift from beside her, adopting a more relaxed posture.

"I have to say, Juvia, I'm glad you're loosening up a bit, but this? This is not good," he said, pursing his lips in disapprovement.

Juvia saw his glance shift from her eyes to her thigh, and felt her stomach twist in fear. She was screwed. Despite the long dress hiding her new guild mark, she knew that he knew, and given the gulp she heard beside her, she wasn't the only one who knew that he knew.

There was a beat of silence, and, seeing that neither of them would admit anything until the cat was out of the bag, Makaroff sighed, telling them he knew everything, before adding he couldn't believe the first mariage this year would be a drunken one. Juvia instantly turned red, before looking down at her hand and realizing he had not been looking at her thigh but at her ring finger.

"How does the master know about this already?" she choked out, baffled.

"Your beloved husband made sure to leave a nice message on my Lacrima to apologize for stealing one of my fairy away," Makaroff answered, throwing Sting one brief and cold glance that clearly showed that he was not amused at all by the situation.

"Oh dear..." Juvia sighed, slightly lowering her head in exasperation.

"There's actually more to it, hence our presence here today," the blond announced, his voice steady and his tone confident, seemingly still not intimidated by the master of the other guild. Makaroff arched an eyebrow curiously, and then motioned to him to go ahead, saying that it couldn't get worse anyway. This comment made the water mage winced, as she bit her lower lips in apprehension. She saw Sting throwing her a sideways glance, before he let out a sigh, saying that he had obviously been quite drunk the night before, and had stolen the guild's fairy in more ways than one. Makaroff's glare intensified, as Juvia's face turned completely red. "Wait, no, that was a wrong choice of words, I didn't mean-" the blond immediately spluttered, trying to correct himself after he understood his mistake.

"Yeah, it'd better be a wrong choice of words," the old man hissed, narrowing his eyes at the dragon slayer.

"Well, technically," Juvia closed her eyes, praying for Sting not to say it, "it's not that much of a wrong choice of words."

There was a beat of silence, and Juvia made the mistake of opening her eyes again, too curious to keep them closed. Her glance immediately landed on Makaroff, who looked like he was considering murder. He had nothing against people having fun, and even less against people have fun together, but when it involved his children, he didn't want any man like Sting getting too close to a member of his guild, especially Juvia. The blond was known for having a lot of fun, for not taking anything seriously, unlike the bluenette who was still incredibly naive and innocente. If the dragon slayer was to break one of his children's heart, Makaroff would probably kill him.

"So, long story short," Sting began, rubbing his neck in an embarrassed way, "She's in Sabertooth now."

There was a cracking sound, and their eyes were immediately drawned to Makaroff's clenched fist. He was fuming. His jaw was stiff and he looked like he was desperately trying to contain a hundreds colourful words he wanted to yell at Sting. The tension was unbearable, until his eyes flickered to Juvia. His furrowed eyebrows and dark glare immediately softened when he locked eyes with her, seeing how uncomfortable and ashamed she looked. He didn't want to make her feel that way. He was mad after Sting for corrupting one of his children, but he'd never yell after the bluenette for her mistakes, especially if she regretted them. Taking a deep breath, Makaroff closed his eyes for a second in an attempt to calm his nerves. "Look..." his words sounded terribly apologetic, and Juvia already knew she wasn't going to like whatever was about to come out of his mouth. "I want to help you two, I really do." She knew it.

"What's the problem, then?" Sting asked, giving him a confused look.

"I can't take Juvia back," Makaroff sighed, "or at least not yet."

"What?" the water mage croaked out, her voice higher than usual.

He vision started getting blurry, and she had to focus on Makaroff not to lose her balance. She was getting busy, the world starting to spin around her, and she was convinced she was about to faint until she felt an arm wrap around her lower back, the grip maintaining her upright and the warmth of the touch grounding her, bringing her back to reality. She was barely aware of Sting telling her to sit down, the buzzing sound inside her head covering any noise, blocking out the surroundings.

"What does Makaroff mean?" she croaked out after a few seconds, her throat terribly tight.

"We can't take you back," the older man replied in a pitiful tone.

"Could he please say that again?" the bluenette winced tentatively.

"We can't take you back."

"Could he please say it again but this time not saying that Juvia can't come back?"

"Juvia-" Makaroff shouted, having reached his limits, before he was cut off by another voice.

"Why can't you take her back?" Sting suddenly asked, a displeased scowl darkening his features.

He seemed angry, and Juvia couldn't figure out why. Maybe he just wanted to defend her, or maybe he was just as upset as her about how things were going. Juvia quickly settled on the second option. He probably wanted her gone. After all, she was just his one night stand, a mistake from a drunken night he couldn't get rid of. She was a burden.

"The council's been on my back for a while now," Makaroff sighed in exhaustion. "They've been excessively cautious since the scandal with Lamia Scale."

"What happened?" Juvia enquired, a frown forming upon her features.

"A smaller, unknown guild sent a few of their members to integrate Lamia Scale and destroy it from the inside," Sting intervened, adopting a more serious stance with his arms crossed against his chest. "The council gathered us to discuss the issue and the guild ended up being dissolved."

"They've been really serious about spies since that affair," Makaroff resumed. "If you switch guild twice in less than a week, they'll investigate on us, and there's a few things I'd like to remain secret."

There was, yet again, another beat of silence. Juvia simply nodded, acknowledging his words but too dismayed to even try to form out an answer, her thoughts aghast as she stared blankly at the master. She felt trapped, and she hated it. Last time she had felt that way, she was part of Phantom Lord. The water mage was constantly under someone's influence, never being her own person, never trusting her instincts, because she was to scared to think on her own. The day she had integrated Fairy Tail, she had instantly discovered a new side of herself. She had discovered she could make her own choices, do whatever she wanted to do, make of her life her own canvas. Now, she was back to square one, regretting her choices, obeying Makaroff's orders and hiding behind Sting's back. The bluenette felt pathetic and useless, hostage of her own mistakes.

"I'm really sorry, Juvia, but you'll have to stay there for at least a few weeks, just enough time for things to settle down," Makaroff explained, before turning his head to glance back at the dragon slayer. "If Sting agrees to it, of course."

"It's no problem," Sting shrugged. "It's not like she's a pain in the ass anyway," he then added, grinning at the grim-looking woman.

"Thanks," Juvia grumbled back, rolling her eyes at him.

"You're welcome," the blond smiled back politely, before looking back at Makaroff. "So, anyway, we need to head back, I have some business back in Crocus I need to take care of. Thank you for your help."

The older man seemed a little taken aback by how polite Sting was being, but ended up shrugging it off, telling him to take good care of his fairy. Juvia noticed the mischievous smirk onto the blond's lips not even a second before the disaster.

"Oh, don't worry, I already took _really_ good care of-"

Sadly, Juvia's timing was a little off, and he had time to say most of his terrible, suggestive joke before she dug her elbow into his ribs. She was pretty sure he had expected her to hit him, since, instead of making wince or double over, her elbow hit a firm, stone hard chest, making him look down at her with a hint of amusement glinting in his eyes. Her scowl only seemed to satisfy him even more, as he offered her a cheeky grin, glad he had contracted his muscles just in time. Unfortunately for him, karma was quite fast that day, and he was too distracted to duck when Makaroff used his powers to punch him from across the room. The blond stumbled back, massaging his jaw as he threw a glare towards a really content-looking bluenette.

"Alright, no inappropriate jokes about your fairies, noted," he grumbled, wincing at the pain shooting through his jaw.

Juvia had the brightest smile on her lips as she watched her master avenge her, but her face immediately dropped when Makaroff let out a sigh as he massaged his exhausted features and told them to leave his office. Reality came dawning on her, her heart dropped, and at that moment, she wanted nothing more than to disappear and be forgotten about, just so she wouldn't have to leave this place. It was her guild, her family, and right now, she had a mark on her thigh that made it clear she didn't belong there anymore. It made her feel sick to her stomach.

Makaroff seemed to notice how uneasy she was, and softly called her, drawing her attention back to him. She looked up at him with wide, distressed eyes, and he offered her a small, affectionate smile, reminding her that she was just going to be away for a few weeks, and that it was almost as if she was on a mission. A tiny smile spread across her lips, but the older man wasn't dumb and knew that it was more for him than for her. He was about to say something else, try reassuring her, but she suddenly turned around, keeping a forced smile on her lips as she headed for the door. Makaroff was saddened to watch her leave like that, but felt a smile pulling at the corners of his lips when he saw Sting waiting for her by the door and leaning towards her to whisper a few words to her. It seemed to make her laugh, her shoulders shaking a little. Despite how annoying the dragon slayer could be, Makaroff trusted him to take care of Juvia. They seemed to make a great duo already.

Outside the office, the guild was back to its usual chaos, and Juvia felt a wave of relief wash over her when she saw that most of her friends were back to fighting. Or, more like, Erza was back to fighting and the guys were back to trying to survive. By the time she had snapped out of her thoughts, Sting was already down the stairs, and she had to jog to catch up with him. Luckily, she managed to stop him before he got to the door, telling him she'd like to talk to her friends before they headed back. The blond threw her a bored look, and for a second she expected him to simply walk away without leaving her any room for negociation, when, much to her surprise, he shrugged, motioning to her to lead the way. She offered him a sweet smile, and a quiet chuckle escaped her lips when she saw him roll his eyes at how nice the water mage was suddenly acting. He apparently wasn't too excited to stay here for even just a minute, and the reason why stood right behind Juvia.

"So, you're running off again?"

While Juvia's blood went cold, Sting's immediately started boiling. They both turned around in sync, creating a nice contrast between the bluenette's wide, dumbstruck eyes and the dragon slayer narrowed, irritated ones. His glance immediately landed on a certain mage among the little group that was now standing before them, and his glare only seemed to get darker, if that was possible. He didn't know what it was about this man that made him so furious, but the only sight of Grey with his arms crossed against his chest and an annoyed look on his face made the blond grit his teeth.

There was only one thing Sting was sure of: this encounter was going to be really interesting, and if he had to get out of it with a few bruises, then so be it.


	7. And I'll never go home again

_**Hi! First of all, sorry for taking so long, I've been struggling a little with exams lately but I'll try to write some chapters during my break. Second of all, thanks for everyone who left a review, you guys don't realize how it keeps me going! I didn't find motivation these last weeks and probably wouldn't have wrote that new chapter without them!**_

 _ **Also thanks a lot to the guests who I can't answer by messages to! You're all really nice, but I just have to clarify for the worried Gray fans, he won't be a mean character in this story, but he just has his moments. I didn't mean to make him appear bad in the last chapter, it's just that I like to make some characters act bad sometimes even though they're good people, it seems more real this way**_

 _ **Anyway, enjoy!**_

* * *

"Ju-Juvia wasn't running off," the bluenette stammered, suddenly feeling guilty and cornered under the ice mage's towering stance. "She's going on a mission with Sting-san."

While Lucy and Erza sent a brief glance towards Sting, accompagnied by a polite nod or smile, Grey kept his eyes glued on Juvia, not even acknowledging the dragon slayer. The blond clenched his fists, fantazing about how the cracking sound of his fist against the man's cheek would be music to his ears. The ice mage arched an eyebrow at the bluenette's answer, seeming doubtful. Sting was about to ask him what was his problem, when Lucy's voice finally rose up among the small groupe, sounding unsure as she asked Juvia if she had seen the last edition of the Sorcerer Magazine. Juvia visibly paled at that, already knowing what all of this was about. Sting seemed to realize the same thing, but his reaction wasn't the same as he arched an eyebrow, almost daring them to say anything about the night they had spent together.

"They... They saw you two in the streets of Crocus," Lucy winced, before fishing something out of her bag and handing it over to the water mage.

Juvia's hands were shaking as she took the magazine, shame spreading through her like poison. The picture was gigantic, right in the middle of the cover, taking the whole page and leaving no room for doubt about the identities of the mages on it. She could see everything. From the most obvious things, to the smallest details. From her blue hair scurried by the late night breeze that immediately gave away who she was, to the gentle hand placed on her hip. From Sting's guild mark on his arm, to the slight smile pulling at the corner of his lips as he cornered her near a wall. She should've been glad they weren't kissing on this picture, but it was still too much. Their lips weren't touching, but she could still see the passionate look she was giving the dragon slayer, the fire in her eyes. Nothing was left unseen, and Juvia hated it. It was supposed to be their night, and only theirs. It had been her one crazy ride, her own secret adventure, the night she had let everything go and enjoyed herself, thinking that they'd be no repercussion the other day, and now, everyone knew, and their short-lived passion was on display for the whole land to see. Everything was ruined, and, before she knew it, Juvia had to blink away the tears blurrying her vision. She opened her mouth, feeling the need to justify herself, but no words came out of her throat. The shame left a sour taste in her mouth.

"Fucking hell," she heard Sting grumble beside her. " _The modern Romeo and Juliet_ , really? They couldn't find anything better?" he sneered, casting a glare towards the giant title written in bold letters.

Their night apparently wasn't the only thing on display, and, when Juvia looked up upon hearing Sting's words, she met a dozen pair of eyes looking back at her. It was as if they were a show, a curiosity. "It sure looks like one hell of a mission!" a voice shouted among the guild, making the crowd erupt in laughter. Her heart dropped, and the bluenette felt her throat tighten, trying as hard as she could to keep inside the sob that was trying to break out of her mouth. She pursed her lips so they would stop quivering, and slightly winced when she heard a curtain of rain suddenly smash against the concrete outside. She saw her friends' eyes flicker from her to the door, noticing the changing weather, while Sting's stayed glued on them, oblivious to what was happening.

"Juvia," Gray started again, his voice suddenly sounding more compassionate, "what's going on?" he ended up asking her, his hard stare softening as he met her distressed eyes.

"Juvia- she-" she stumbled on her words, her voice shaking.

Unlike earlier, she wanted nothing more than to run away and never come back. A minute ago, she felt like she didn't belong in her own family anymore, but now, things had only gotten worse, and she felt like she never even did. She could see it in their eyes, it was as if they were facing a stranger, as if they couldn't recognize her anymore. She had spent her whole life staying in the shadow, never putting herself ahead, and now that she was finally stepping into the light, her friends were able to see her face, and it was the face of a stranger. She wanted to hide. Juvia needed to get away, she needed to get away now, she couldn't stay here. "Seems like you had fun in Crocus, Juvia!" a voice suddenly shouted from a corner of the guild. Juvia clenched her fist, trying to ignore the tears gathering on her eyelashes. She opened her mouth, acutely aware of how her lips were quivering and of how shaking her voice would be as soon as she tried to say a word, when a booming voice suddenly erupted from the staircase, drawing everyone's attention away from the water mage.

"If any of you's wondering what the hell is going on: Juvia and Sting are going on an important mission together, and I sent her to Crocus last night to get a few things done," Makaroff announced, casting a dark glare over the ones who had been making fun of her a second ago. "Things just got a little out of hands, but you know how the Sorcerer Magazine is, kids," he then added with a sigh, before concluding in a severe tone. "Now, stop staring so rudely at our guest and go back to whatever fight you were having."

Juvia turned her head towards him to throw him a grateful smile, her eyes ridiculously watery simply because of the attention. Makaroff acknowledged her with a simple nod, and she would almost have believed it was a detached response if she hadn't noticed the hint of affection glinting in his eyes. The bluenette then turned her head back forward, and her glance directly landed on Sting. This one was watching the master with an unreadable expression on his face, but a barely noticeable smile was pulling at the corners of his lips. Unlike Juvia, the blond didn't care the slightest about rumors, but it was nice to have someone taking his side for once.

The two were drawn back to the conversation they were having when Erza spoke up again, grumbling about how they really needed to do something about that magazine. Her eyes looked threatening, as dark as the storm going on outside, and created a nice contrast with Lucy's wide, apologetic eyes.

"Juvia, I'm so sorry, we-" she fumbled, before being cut off.

"What's that mission?" Gray asked curiously, acting as if he had not just spat accusations in the bluenette's face a minute ago, and showing no regrets for it.

"I- Juvia needs to go."

Sting threw a curious glance towards the water mage, and his eyes widened when he noticed her shaking hands and her respiration coming out in short breaths. The wave of relief she had just felt not even a minute ago hadn't been enough for her to calm down, and she was still terribly tensed, almost looking like she was on the brink of a panic attack. "Come on, we're gonna miss our train," the dragon slayer straight out lied as he put a hand on Juvia's arm to lead her out, not knowing neither caring about when the last train to Crocus was set. As he turned around to head towards the door, he noticed Gray's eyes dangerously drifting towards Juvia's legs, where the bottom of her new guild's mark was slightly left uncovered. He needed a distraction, now.

"Hey, _Gray-sama_ , could you please stop staring at my girlfriend's legs?" he sneered, spitting out the honorific as if it was an insult.

The brunet whipped his head up at that, his startled eyes landing onto Sting before turning into a dark glare. "Don't call her that, she's not yours," he snapped back in a low growl.

A contend smirk spread across the dragon slayer's features, and the ice mage didn't even need to hear what he was about to say to know that it was gonna make his face appear even more punchable than before. "Wow, I didn't think it'd be that easy to make you jealous," he taunted with a smug tone. "Don't take her for granted man, 'cause it seems like she grew closer to me in two days than to you in two years."

An uncomfortable silence fell within the group, as everyone cautiously watched Gray, awaiting for his reaction. They noticed his fists clenched tightly by his sides, and all expected him to pounce at the dragon slayer, knowing that no one would truly try to keep him from doing so. Luckily, Juvia finally broke the silence after a few seconds, saying that they needed to go in an attempt to defuse the situation. She forcefully grabbed Sting's arm and pulled him towards the door as she waved a quick goodbye to her friends. No one made a move to stop them, staring at the duo with a puzzled look on their faces as they both disappeared behind the door.

They both barely had time to take a step outside before they got totally drenched by the heavy rain. Juvia let go of Sting's arm and kept walking, ignoring the terrible sensation of her soaked clothes clutching to her skin. Already knowing he had badly screwed up, and despite not being able to figure out why, Sting called the bluenette, asking her to slow down. She didn't listen to him, and the blond wasn't even sure if she had heard him or not, because she kept striding through the street with her arms crossed against her chest, desperately trying to bring a little warmth to her already cold skin. The dragon slayer had to jog a little to catch up with her, and grabbed her arm, forcing her to turn around. The water mage immediately jerked away from the touch, taking a step away from him as if he had just burned her. Sting expected her to start yelling at him as soon as she faced him, but, weirdly, Juvia stayed deadly silent, staring at him with dark, upset eyes. He almost wished she would have yelled at him, because he had no idea why what he had just done was wrong, and he was pretty sure that it would upset her even more if he showed her he couldn't realize his mistake. After a few seconds of heavy silence, Sting let out a sigh, admitting that he felt like he was supposed to apologize for something, but that, frankly, he'd rather not. After all, in his head, he had done nothing but defend Juvia against the stupid, rude and annoying ice mage. Nothing would kill him more than to apologize on his behave towards Gray.

"How could you do that?!"

As soon as Sting heard her using the right pronoun, he knew he had screwed up really bad.

"Things were finally fixing themselves up but Sting just had to come and wreck everything!" Juvia cried out, the unshed tears finally dropping from her eyelashes directly on her cheeks slightly flushed from the cold.

Sting winced at the sight of her damp cheeks, and immediately tried to justify himself. "I know I shouldn't have done that but I only wanted to defend-"

"Defend who, Juvia?" the water mage scoffed, a bitter smile playing on her lips. "Stop lying, all Sting wanted to do was to taunt Gray-sama. He accused him of treating Juvia like she was his, but then he showed her off like a prize."

"I didn't to make you feel that way, I just-"

"Oh Juvia knows what Sting wanted," she cut him off, her voice suddenly lower, calmer, as if her sadness, anger and dismay had all been replaced by pure and simple hatred. "He wanted to make it look like Juvia had the best time of her life with him, like he was the best thing she had ever known, because he desperately needs to make it look like his life is life is always so much fun. Well life isn't always fun!" she suddenly exploded, followed by a loud crack of thunder. "Sting's not the best thing Juvia's ever known, and right now her life is nothing but a terrible wreckage!"

"Why do you keep making such a big deal out of all of this?" Sting shouted, throwing his arms up in frustation as he finally lost his temper. "Everything will be fine, Juvia! You just need to spend a few weeks in my guild, it's nothing!"

"Why do Sting keep acting like none of this matters when he's the one who put Juvia in this situation in the first place?!" she shouted back, before suddenly calming down, her eyes glinting with sorrow. She let out a breath, before adding more quietly. "Why did Sting have to make Juvia part of Sabertooth?"

There was a beat of silence, during which Juvia kept her eyes glued on the floor, looking at the puddle forming beneath her feet. She didn't want to see Sting's face, she didn't want to know how her revelation had affected him. If she had looked, she would've seen the anger in his eyes slowly fading away, replaced by betrayal. He quickly regained his composure, hiding the hurt glinting in his eyes with a bitter smile.

"Oh, I get it," he snorted. "You think all of this is my fault, don't you?"

Juvia finally looked up, meeting his eyes. She ignored the smirk he was wearing, too focused on how dull his eyes suddenly looked. They had lost all amusement and affection, and now only exhaustion and resignation. "Just go ahead and put the blame on me," the blond mumbled, slightly shaking his head. "I'm used to it."

On these last words, Sting turned around and walked away, without according her one last glance. Juvia watched him leave, trying to ignore the guilt twisting her guts. Why did she have to be sad for him? She was the one whose life was falling apart! She couldn't recognize herself anymore, she had betrayed her guild, her friends, and now she had to live with him, the source of her problems, for weeks! He had been the one to make her part of his guild after all!

"It is Sting's fault!" Juvia grumbled under her breath, crossing her arms against her chest in frustration.

The rain slightly calmed down, no longer coming down in sheets. The bluenette was no longer upset, but plain out angry. She was furious. Everything had begun because of Sting, now he was making things even worse, and he wasn't even going to acknowledge it? It was outrageous. She couldn't believe how she could have thought for even a second that he was a great person, that he could somehow become her friend.

"Trouble in paradise?" a voice suddenly asked behind her, making Juvia jump. She spun around, her eyebrows shooting up when her glance landed on the person who had followed her. Gray was standing before her, his clothes completely soaked, with his arms folded against his chest and a smug smile on his face. Usually, the only sight of that smile would have made Juvia's heart go crazy, the only idea of him going after her despite the storm raging on would have made her swoon, but at that moment, Sting was all she had on her mind and anger was still pumping through her vains. She didn't even have to worry about him hearing their argument because she knew that the rain had been too loud for anyone to hear anything from a few feet away.

"Why is Gray-sama here?" she asked in a somber voice, keeping her eyes on the ground.

She heard him sigh. "Erza nicely told me I had been rude and needed to apologize," she let a bitter smile spread across her lips, wondering how she could have thought for even a second that he cared, until he added that he agreed with her. Juvia looked up, her wide, curious eyes locking with Gray's dark ones. "I shouldn't have said what I said, it was mean and I don't know why I reacted this way," he admitted, rubbing his neck uncomfortably.

Juvia shrugged it off, realizing that at the moment, she truly did not care about it anymore. "It's fine."

"No it's not, I almost accused you of sleeping with Sting or some shit," the brunet scoffed, shaking his head at his own stupidity. "I mean, not that it's any of my business but... I don't know. It made me angry, thinking of you with that idiot."

Juvia felt all anger leave her body, as her heartbeat started going faster, a feeling of warmth compressing her ribcage. The sensation wasn't pleasant, even painful, but it was still supposed to be wonderful. It was supposed to be a pain that she loved, but at that moment, she hated it more than anything. It didn't feel right. She wasn't happy enough, her heart wasn't going fast enough, nothing felt the same anymore. That feeling of warmth spreading through her body wasn't as great as it used to be. She had too much on her mind to be happy just because Gray slightly cared about her. She couldn't find herself swooning over a man who only showed her affection through his jealousy. It wasn't good enough.

And then she realized once again that the others weren't the issue. She didn't feel the same anymore. The others hadn't changed, but she was the stranger. In one night, she had discovered a brand new side of herself, new feelings, freedom and carelessness, and now, going back to her old life, to her second self, felt wrong. She knew she'd only need a few days back in her old life for it to start feeling normal again, but she didn't have those few days. She was supposed to go back to the place that had changed her, the place where everything had begun.

"What happened between you two?" Gray suddenly asked her, drawing her attention back to him. "Do you need me to kick his ass?"

She shook her head, knowing that she had to keep everything secret. She couldn't tell him, she couldn't tell anyone, she was on her own. "... Juvia has to go, sorry," the water mage ended up saying, already turning around to leave.

"Oh, uh, yeah, sure, I wouldn't want to make you miss your train," she heard the ice mage fumble, sounding a little taken aback by how cold she was acting. "Bye, Juvia."

Her heart felt heavy as she walked away from him. She felt like she was once again walking away from her family, painfully aware of her new guild mark burning her thigh and reminding her of how she didn't belong there anymore.

She was now a stranger to her family.


	8. Midnight, we're fading

Change wasn't something Juvia was used to.

She liked to have her own little habits, her little rituals. She didn't change things when she didn't have to, and she also didn't change her style of clothes unless it was really needed. Like said before, Juvia didn't like change, but she had already gone few different eras, and during all these different periods, she had been wearing different clothes. There had been her time at the orphenage, then at Phantom Lord, the transition between the two guilds, and finally, there had been the last outfit from after the Grand Magic Games, a time where she had begun to finally assert herself. Now that she was going to Sabertooth, the bluenette felt like it wouldn't be right to wear her usual clothes. So, throwing one last sorrowful glance towards her beloved blue winter outfit, the water mage closed her suitcase full of unused skirts and dresses, her mood getting even more grim than before. Her eyebrows were slightly furrowed, making her eyes appear even darker than usual, Juvia readjusted the cloak she had just thrown over herself in an attempt to shelter her pale skin from the cold wind of this late evening. It had been really nice of Yukino to land her a dress, but the bluenette just couldn't understand how people lived in such light clothes. She didn't wear her winter dresses for fun, she was really sensitive to the cold, which made her love for her Gray-sama completely paradoxal, and which explained why she had almost frozen to death while sleeping in Sting's bed. Hers had a thousand covers and blankets, while the dragon slayer slept, not only shirtless, but also with only one sheet. Juvia just couldn't understand people sometimes. With one final huff, she grabbed her suitcase and left her room, exiting the dorms as quick as possible so she wouldn't have to face any of her friends again.

It was just her luck that Gajeel was coming back from his mission at the same moment.

She barely had time to make two steps into the street before she saw him arriving from afar, easily recognizable thanks to his thick unruly black hair and matching clothes. She had to admit that he looked very intimidating from far away, but Juvia had never really understood how people could be afraid of him. She just didn't see it, up close he was nothing but a grumpy shark.

Since she wasn't dressed as usual and her friend wasn't known for being really aware of his surroundings while walking in the street, Juvia could've probably turned around and rushed back to the dorm while remaining unseen, but she found herself grouded. The water mage didn't find the strenght in herself to run away from her friends again, especially from her oldest, closest one. She knew she needed someone, anyone, and she especially knew that if there was one person who could help her when she started to feel like a stranger in her own skin, it was him. He had been there through it all, they had gone through different eras together, he had seen the worst and the best of Juvia. He was the one who knew her the best, who knew the real Juvia, the one who remained there despite all the changes. Gajeel was the only one who never cared about what she was doing, because he knew that she would always be the same.

So, without giving it a second thought, Juvia took a few steps forward, standing in the middle of the street. She saw Gajeel look up when she entered his line of vision, and he seemed to perk up when he met her eyes, as if he had been expecting to see her. Her suspicions were confirmed as soon as he got close enough for her to hear him.

"Ameonna! I just ran into your boyfriend," he smirked as he reached her.

Juvia instantly stiffened. "Gajeel-kun," she smiled, talking through gritted teeth. "Sting-san isn't-"

"Yeah, I know you idiot," he rolled his eyes, ruffling her hair. "I ran into him at the train station. At first I was going to tell him not to get too close or I would have to eventually kill him, but then he explained to me you two were together because he was leaving on a mission with you."

The water mage frowned as she tried to tidy her now dishevelled blue strands, wondering why her friend had walked up to Sting in the first place. Her eyes widened when she remembered the magazine, and she let her hands fall back at her sides, looking up at Gajeel with a distressed look on her face. "Wait, because Gajeel-kun-"

"Saw the magazine, yeah," the brunet shrugged, unbothered.

Juvia looked down, suddenly finding herself unable to maintain his stare. She had naively wished he wouldn't see it, but everyone in the land seemed to be aware of the night she had spent with Sting. She wasn't used to having her life on display like that, and she was already tired of it. Juvia looked up to Gajeel, his opinion meant a lot for her, and she truly hoped this cover wouldn't change anything to what he thought of her. Even though nothing was shown on the photo, people could easily guess what had happened after. They were only inches away, Sting had a hand on her waist and she looked at him as if she could see everything she had ever wanted in his eyes. Juvia hated this picture, because she knew that, if it hadn't been released for the whole world to see, she would've stared at it dreamily for hours. This picture was perfect, the memory of a night of freedom she wished she had never forgotten, and now, it had been ruined by unwanted attention.

"... Isn't Gajeel-kun upset?" she finally dared to ask after a beat of silence.

Gajeel stared at her as if she was the most stupid person he had ever met, and she hated how much she was used to this look. "Why would I be angry?" he asked, arching an eyebrow. "We're grown ups, Juv', you can do whatever you want."

"Oh..."

"By the way, you missed your train," he then added, as if she wasn't already feeling dumb enough.

She rolled her eyes at him, before hissing back that she knew. She probably wouldn't have taken it anyway, Sting obviously didn't want her to be there. He probably still upset, which was still outrageous. Juvia was the one who had to leave her guild after all. "He seemed pretty upset. Did you two get into a fight?" Gajeel suddenly asked her, drawing her attention back to him. "Do you need me to kill him?"

That had least elicited a laugh from Juvia, who shook her head, telling him that he couldn't kill people over every minor inconvenience that happened to her. The dragon slayer shrugged, retorting that she couldn't deny the fact that it was pretty effective. "Anyway, how was Gajeel-kun's mission?" she then asked, not wanting to be the only subject of their encounter. The brunet shrugged her question off, saying that they'd talk about it when she'd come back.

"We'll see who was the best on his mission," he provoked her with a cunning smirk playing on his lips. "Now go, ameonna, wouldn't want to make you miss your last train."

Offering him one last smile, Juvia grabbed her suitcase and went on her way, waving him goodbye as she headed towards the train station, her mood definitely lifted by this encounter. She didn't know how the grumpiest man on Earth could have this effect on her, but seeing Gajeel always cheered her up, no matter the situation. She didn't need to be anything around him, only herself. He accepted her no matter what. It was reassuring to know that he'd always be there.

The sky was clearer than ever as she sauntered down the street, almost forgetting where she was heading. She was still feeling really good about her conversation with her best friend and not thinking at all about what had bothered her in the first place. The water mage quickly reached the station and only had to wait twenty minutes for the last train. It was getting really late and the station was completely empty. It was so calm the mage almost fell asleep on her bench, until the train rolled in, startling her. She quickly got up, grabbed her luggage and went to find herself a seat in the almost deserted train. Usually, trains to Crocus were always really crowded, but since it was the last train during a night in the middle of the week, Juvia almost had a whole wagon to herself. She quietly sighed in satisfaction as she sat down on the uncomfortable but large banquette, putting her suitcase on the floor next to her feet. After a few minutes, the train started moving, and the steady sway of the vehicule started lulling her into a state of drowsiness. The bluenette rested her head against the glass, watching the dark silhouettes of trees flashing past as the train headed to Crocus. She started to feel like things didn't have to be that bad. She was going to spend a few weeks in Sabertooth, so what? Crocus was a breathtaking place, Yukino and Rogue were really nice, and she actually enjoyed Sting's presence-

Juvia suddenly stopped in the middle of her thought, all sensation of drowsiness gone as a feeling of guilt welled up in her chest. "But Sting-san probably doesn't wanna talk to Juvia anymore," she mumbled to herself.

She still couldn't understand why he had been so upset over her complaints. Sure, she had put the blame on him, but she had only been saying the truth, hadn't she? Juvia shifted uncomfortably on her seat, before letting a grunt escape her lips and shooting up, feeling like she couldn't stay put anymore. She needed some air.

Leaving her luggage behind her, Juvia walked through the different wagons before finally reaching the rear platform. She reached a hand back to the _hood_ of her _cloak and tugged it over her head, before finally stepping out, instantly stiffening under the clothe when the cold wind hit her skin. The water mage huddled deeper into her cloak before walking towards the railing, resting her elbows on it as she watched the night sky. She couldn't even properly see the moon from where she was, but it didn't matter, she was too deep in her thought to even pay attention to the view. Memories of her travel with Sting were haunting her mind._

" _Hey,"_ he had told her with a quiet voice, as to try and reassure her, _"we don't have to tell him, you know."_

Juvia let a sigh out, lowering her head as she closed her eyes. It had been way easier earlie when anger was still pumping through her veins. Now that the rage had faded, she was lucid again and the guilt was consuming her. Sting had done nothing but his best to make her feel better since the beginning of the day when she had woken up in his bed, and she had thanked him by blaming everything going wrong in her life on him. He had tried to reassure her many times, had lightened up her mood, had even made her dance in the streets of Crocus to show her that life could be great if she stopped caring a little, and yet, she had been incredibly ungrateful and had yelled at him for nothing.

" _You were willing to lie for me, why wouldn't I be too?"_

Biting her lower lips, Juvia shot one last look towards the night sky before heading back inside, freezing. She knew that she would probably have to apologize to Sting when arriving to Sabertooth, and she sincerely wished it wouldn't make their cohabition more difficult.

* * *

By the time the train reached Crocus, night had fallen and a few more people had gotten in. Once Juvia left the station, suitcase in hand and cloak tightly wrapped around her shoulders, she realized that she had no idea where to go. She looked around her with wide, lost eyes. It was completely dark and even though Crocus was usually an eventful town, it was the middle of the week and by now the city was asleep. There was no one around except the people getting down of the train with her, but when she turned around to ask for directions, her eyes only had to go over a teenager, a drunk woman and a creepy, older man for her to decide to turn back around and get out of the train station to find her way on her own. She knew she was a powerful mage and she could easily defend herself but that didn't mean Juvia wanted to put herself in danger for nothing.

The bluenette barely had time to make two steps into the street before she heard someone call out to her. She looked around and scanned the area with narrowed, suspicious eyes, but saw nothing else than people walking away and street cats. "Oï, blue head!" she heard someone call again, this time much closer. The water mage snapped her head back forward, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, before finally looking down, her glance landing onto a well known exceed from Sabertooth.

"Oh, hi, uh..." she trailed off, wincing as she realized that she didn't remember his name.

"Lector," the brown exceed filled in, seemingly unaffected.

"Yes, Lector-san, sorry," Juvia blushed. "What are you doing here?

The exceed seemed utterly bored as he answered that Sting had sent Orga to get her but that the mage was tired so he had paid him to go instead. He then motionned for her to follow him before turning around and promptly leaving, not even glancing over his shoulder to see if she was following. The bluenette quickly grabbed the luggage she had put on the ground and had to jog up a little to catch up with him. "But does Lector-san even use jewels?" Juvia asked, frowning.

"No, I don't need it, but I like the idea of taking it from people," the cat shrugged back with a devilish smirk on his face.

An amused smile spread across the water mage's lips as she noticed how much the exceed acted like his owner. The only difference between the two was that the exceed seemed less childish, walked with more pride in his steps instead of excitement. She would've expected the contrary, but, even though they shared the same smugness and mischief, Lector seemed calmer than his owner. Juvia had to keep herself from giggling at the thought, but quickly pursed her lips in an attempt to hide her smile when she saw Lector glancing at her from the corner of his eyes.

"So, what are you gonna do during your time at Sabertooth?"

Juvia looked down at the exceed and blinked, slightly taken aback by the question. She wasn't really expecting him to try and make conversation. Noticing that she had let an uncomfortable silence settle between them, she quickly retorted that she didn't know and that she hadn't had time to think about it yet. Lector looked up to meet her eyes for a second, before looking back in front of him as he lead her through the streets.

"We have a pool now, you should like it since you're a water mage," he said with an indifferent tone. "I'll show you around if I have the time," he then added, as he once again looked up to meet her eyes.

Juvia beamed at him, not noticing as a slight blush spread across the exceed's cheeks. "That'd be great," she retorted with a sweet tone. Lector looked away and shrugged, ending the conversation with a simple "Don't mention it.". They kept walking in silence for a few minutes before the bluenette started recognizing her surroundings. First, they ran into the street light that had almost given Juvia a fragment of memory back earlier this afternoon when Sting had given her a tour of Crocus. Then, they walked past the bench on which he had said they had probably decided that getting married and changing guild wasn't enough and that they should probably sleep together. Lastly, she saw the stairs that Sting had described as the one where she had probably fallen during their druken night, and she only had to look up for her glance to fall onto the guild of Sabertooth. She still had no idea how to get from the train station to Sabertooth, but at least she could probably find her way back from a few streets down, it was a beginning.

As they walked up the few steps that lead to the door and entered the guild, Juvia realized that, even though she had slept there, the bluenette had actually never really entered the guild, or at least didn't remember it. She furrowed her eyebrows, wondering for a moment how she could have gotten so wasted that she forgot an entire night, when her train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted.

"Finally, I thought you'd never be back," a voice grunted.

There in front of them was standing a really sleepy looking Orga, and Juvia blinked at him for a few seconds, dumbfounded. The last time she had seen him, he had been fighting with Laxus, looking stronger than ever with his electricity hovering around him. The sight of the same mage in nothing but sweater pants with his hair down and a tired look on his face was definitely disturbing. Nothing better to remind Juvia that tonight, and for the few next weeks, she'd be sleeping at the ennemy's.

Rolling his eyes, Lector didn't say anything and simply extanded his paw, awaiting for his reward. Orga glared at him but still dropped a few jewels into his paw, before turning to Juvia. "You must be Juvia," he started, looking her up and down with a neutral look on his face. "The rain woman, is that it? I look forward training with you, you seemed pretty strong during the games."

Juvia was about to thank him, when he turned around and walked away, telling her to come with him because he was supposed to show her her room. They climbed the stairs that led to the third floor, and crossed the corridor until they reached the very last doors, one of them including Sting's. She furrowed her eyebrows as she stared at his door, wondering what was going on, when Orga made her turn around and showed her the door right in front of the dragon slayer's room.

"It used to be Rogue's room, you're lucky he left it a week ago," the mage told her, before promptly leaving without even saying goodbye, yawning as he made his way down the corridor. Juvia threw a glance over her shoulder at Sting's room, wondering if he was already sleeping, before looking back at her door. It'd probably be better if she left him alone for this night at least. The water mage sighed, then put her hand on the doorhandle, about to enter the room, when she realized that she had left her suitcase downstairs.

The bluenette quickly climbed down the stairs, going back to the guild's hall. Now that Orga and Lector had gone to sleep, it was completely empty. She shivered, suddenly feeling uncomfortable alone in a foreign place, and quickly went to grab her forgotten luggage, when she looked up and met a pair of dark blue eyes looking down at her. Sting was standing on the second floor in front of his office with his elbows resting onto the balustrade, towering over the hall and watching her with an intense gaze. She met his stare and they locked eyes for a few seconds, his face remaining completely unreadable, thoughtful. During these few seconds, none of them dared to move, maintaining the other's stare without flinching. It was as if they were trying to communicate but still couldn't understand each other, facing a wall when they searched for any emotion on the other's features, anything that would give away their thoughts. If she hadn't been so deep in her thought, completely lost in the blond's gaze, Juvia would've shown him. She would've showed how guilty she felt, how much she wanted him by her side during these next few weeks. Sadly, she didn't realize, and kept staring back at him with dark, emotionless eyes. After a moment, Sting's shoulders seemed to drop as he let out a breath, looking away. He turned his back to her, going back into his office, and Juvia only realized that she had just missed her chance when he disappeared behind the door.

The light flickered off and the guild went completely dark, the only source of light coming from under the office's door as a faint glow. Engulfed by the darkness, Juvia found herself once again alone, and she knew that this time, she was the only one to blame.


	9. But lover, you're the one to blame

Darkness had completely engulfed the building by the time Juvia reached the third floor again, tiredly carrying her heavy luggage along. A heavy silence had settled inside the guild, and if she hadn't been as exhausted as she was at the moment, she would've felt as lonely as the last person on earth, but she just couldn't bring herself to care anymore, or at least not at this hour.

The water mage couldn't see anything as she walked through the corridor, but she knew where her room was so she didn't bother to try and find a way to turn the lights on. When she reached the end of the corridor, slightly discerning the lighter shade of black caused by the wall, she turned left and started blindly looking for the handle. When the bluenette finally felt the icy touch of metal against her skin, she didn't even think twice about which room she was in front of and pushed it, scrambling inside and closing the door shut behind her with her foot. It was just as pitch black inside as it was in the corridor, and, once again, Juvia didn't even try looking for a light. She dropped her luggage by the door and made her way towards where she guessed was the bed, carelessly kicking her boots off her feet as she did so. Once she felt her knee hit what felt like a wooden box spring, the bluenette quickly took off her cloak and dress before she leapt into the bed, shying away from the cold. She had to keep herself from letting a desperate cry crawl up her throat when she felt how thin the blanket was, barely protecting her skin from the coldness of the air. She already regretted the warmth her cloak provided her, but wasn't brave enough to find the will to get up again, so, doing the best she could to ignore her clattering teeth and the unpleasant sensation of goose bumps when her legs brushed past, Juvia closed her eyes and curled up into a ball, preparing herself for what was going to be a long night.

* * *

When Sting finally opened the door of his office again, the town was asleep and his eyes were bloodshot. He let out a yawn as he closed the door behind him with his feet, and attempted to stretch a little before he winced, his muscles completely sore from the hours of work sitting down at his desk. Sting let out an exhausted sigh as he slowly climbed the stairs, eager to jump back into his bed and forget about his day but too drained to run up the stairs as he usually would. At this moment, Sting only wanted to go to sleep. Not even to rest, be comfortable or dream. He just wanted to stop existing, for at least a few hours. He couldn't even look forward to the next day because he knew it would be the exact same. That's all he had been doing since he had become the master of Sabertooth. Hours and hours of paperwork. The days where he spent his entire time training and going on exciting missions with Rogue seemed far away now. Hell, even the Grand Magic Games seemed like they had happened in a previous life. Now all he could do was assume his responsabilities and take care of the guild, putting his needs of adventure aside.

Mind him, he didn't dislike being the master of Sabertooth. He appreciated the empowerment, and he especially liked the feeling of a hundred people looking up to him. They always came up to him when there was a problem or when the guild was in danger, they treated him like he was stronger than anyone here and it was truly a delight for a man as arroguant as the dragon slayer, but the role just didn't suit him. He wasn't a man made for stability. The blond was a ball of energy, constantly eager to travel, fight and push his limits further every day. He couldn't stay still, working on papers all day, when all he wanted was to run until his lungs collapsed. Sting didn't know what he was supposed to do now, he didn't even know if there was anything he could do except going to sleep and appreciate his few hours off.

When he finally reached the third floor, he was quick to cross the corridor and enter his room. After the blond quietly closed his bedroom door behind him, he leaned back against it for a second. Closing his eyes, he let his head fall back against the wooden surface and let a quiet sigh escape his lips. This time, his mind was completely blank, his dark thoughts all chased away by the familiar and comforting scent of his room. Sting wasn't really used to having a small comfort zone. All his life, he had been traveling with Rogue, never staying at the same place for too long, so, the day he had joined Sabertooth and gotten his room, he hadn't even thought twice about how this one would be his safety blanket years after. He wasn't familiar with the notion of comfort zone, and he hadn't really thought twice about it the day he had felt a wave of relief wash over him when he got back to his room after a long and rough mission. Now, he was infinitely thankful to have a space of his own and was almost sure he wouldn't have even lasted a month as a master without it. It was the best part of the day, getting back to his old, familiar room. During the day, people needed him left and right, kept calling him over the lacrima and sending him more and more papers to fill, but at night, it was only him and his room. Of course, he also had his office, but it just wasn't the same. His office was work, and work only; meanwhile sometimes, in his room, he could close his eyes and feel, for even just an instant, like he was back to his old life, with a suitcase leaned down next to his bed, ready for his next mission.

There was a slight breeze of cold air coming from the crack under his door and Sting felt a shiver running up his spine, mentally cursing the poorly heated guild. He opened his eyes again and took off his jacket, throwing it across the room where he knew it would land on a useless armchair. The dragon slayer took a few steps towards his bed, not bothering to turn on the lights since he'd have to turn them off before going to sleep anyway, and was about to take his shirt off when a soft, contend sigh was emited from under the cover, making him jump out of his skin. Reacting on instincts, he whipped around and got ready for a fight, the palm of his right hand lighting up as if his body was preparing a White Dragon's Claw. The blinding source of light erupted through the darkness and partially lit up the room, revealing a slim figure tucked under his sheet and soundly asleep. Sting's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, as he quietly stepped closer to the bed, careful not to wake the intruder. He lifted his palm to get a better sight of the stranger, when he suddenly noticed a few strands of blue hair cascading down the side of his pillow. His tensed muscles instantly relaxed and the intense light emited by his palm dimmed down, his powers being a pure reflection of his emotions.

He rolled his eyes, sighing exasperatedly, until his eyes landed on her shivering figure. His stone cold features softened at the sight, before his eyes lit up, having seemingly just remembered something. He turned around and walked towards his wardrobe, before he stood on tip-toe to grab something on top of it. He then walked back towards the bed, satisfied with his new found blanket. He had completely forgotten about the black faux fur duvet Yukino had gifted him after getting offended over the lack of covers on his bed. She had scolded him that day, telling him that he couldn't be a good master if he was sick and refusing to acknowledge the fact that Sting had almost never gotten a cold in his life.

Trying his best not to wake her up, Sting carefully draped the duvet over her shivering body and felt a soft smile spread across his lips as he watched her let out a small groan of protest in her sleep before grabbing the blanket and pulling it closer to her. He was still using his powers, emitting light with the palm of his hand, when he noticed a weird glint coming from Juvia's hand. Narrowing his eyes, he leaned forward to take a closer look at it, when he finally noticed the ring around her finger. He stared at it for a few seconds, lost in his thoughts, before the blond slightly shook his head, a small smile creeping onto his face. Taking one last look at Juvia's asleep face, Sting turned around and promptly left the room, going to sleep into Rogue's old room for the night.

* * *

When light started filtering through the shutters, gently awakening her, Juvia slowly rolled onto her back, stretching and letting out satisfied sighs as she enjoyed the soft feeling of the faux fur blanket against her skin. She was more than glad to be sleeping in Rogue's room, and not in Sting's, the memory of her uncomfortable early sleep way too fresh in her memory. She could now see why she felt like she could relate to Rogue more easily than to the other dragon slayer. He was more composed, calm, and definitely needed as much comfort as he could get, like the bluenette. He had probably also been teased a lot by his childhood friend for this need, once again, like the bluenette.

Juvia took a few more minutes for herself, rolling into the bed and enjoying the warmth the few rays filtering through the shutters and landing on her skin provided her. A lazy smile spread across her lips as she threw the duvet off her, paradoxically feeling even warmer as the sun hit her skin. She stretched again, and then stayed like that, sprawled on the wide bed, sunbathing in her underwears. When she realized that she was dozing off, the water mage shook her head in an attempt to wake herself up and grudgingly got up, knowing that she'd probably start off the wrong foot in Sabertooth if she woke up half before noon. Grabbing the clothes she had left on the nightstand, Juvia made her way towards the bathroom and opened the door. The bluenette made one step into the room, before freezing by the doorway.

She furrowed her eyebrows, took a few steps back, looked at the bed she had just slept in, then back at the bathroom. She leaned back, took one last look at the bed, and sighed heavily. "Of course," she groaned, fighting off the sudden urge to slap herself. Juvia quickly put her clothes on and hurried to grab her luggage and get out of the room. Once out, she noticed how she had gotten into the room on the left instead of the one on the right. She shook her head at her own foolishness, but decided to simply put the blame on her exhaustion the day before and crossed the corridor to open the door to her actual room. And, _of course_ , she once again froze by the doorway.

Sting was laying in his bed, with his arms folded under his head, staring at the ceiling with a thoughtful expression on his features, his eyebrows ever so slightly furrowed. The dragon slayer was also shirtless and the cover was really low on his waist, giving her an impression of déjà vu from the first time she had woken up here. And, just like the first time, the bluenette felt a blush creeping up her cheeks at the sight. Luckily for her, the blond was deep in his thoughts and hadn't noticed her yet, but as soon as she moved, trying to stealthily get out, he lifted his head a little and offered her a bewildered glance, silently asking her what she was doing here.

"Juvia, um..." she started before her voice died off, her throat suddenly too dry. She gulped, feeling her cheeks get even warmer under his intense stare, and resumed."Juvia went to the wrong room last night."

"I noticed."

His voice was, first of all, terribly husky in the morning, one of Juvia's many weaknesses; and, second of all, terribly harsh. Was it her or had the air gotten really cold in there? Juvia shifted, getting more and more uncomfortable under his icy stare, before she quietly apologized and turned around, promptly leaving the room. She didn't even close the door behind her and rushed back to the other room, swiftly closing the door behind her. Her breathing was strangely loud as she leaned back against the door, her chest heaving heavily. She took a few seconds to calm her fast heartbeat, closing her eyes as she inhaled deeply a couple times, before she sat down on the ground, resting her forehead against her palms.

She missed Fairy Tail already.

* * *

As soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs, Juvia knew she wasn't going to stay in Sabertooth. Or, at least, not for the day. She didn't know what she was going to do, where she was going to go, and she felt like a teenager who had just gotten kicked out from her house by her parents, but she'd figure it out eventually, because there was no way she was spending another minute in this guild. She was wearing some white dress she absolutely loathed, she had noticed the master's door was once again closed, and now that she was near the hall, Yukino was nowhere to be found and everyone seemed to be staring at her, making her more than self-conscious about the guild mark on her thigh that didn't belong to her.

Even though her first instincts were to duck her head and go back upstairs to hide herself, Juvia stood her ground, knowing that she had no reason to feel uncomfortable. She was a strong mage, she could probably beat half of the people here, and she wouldn't feel bad about herself just because they knew just as much as her that she didn't belong there. So, holding her head high, Juvia went down the last step and entered the hall, ignoring the dirty looks some of the mages were giving her. She took one last look at her surroundings to check if there was anyone she knew, often changing her indifferent look into a disdainful one when she met the eyes of someone looking at her a little too closely, and ended up guessing that Yukino and Rogue were out of town before heading to the door. At this point Juvia was actually glad she wasn't wearing her usual clothes, because, even though she was trying really hard not to care about the stares burning holes into her back, she knew that in her usual dress, her guild mark would have been fully on display, and she would've hated that. The bluenette was now only a few feet away from the door, trying to keep a steady pace so people wouldn't see her litteraly darting for the door, when she almost bumped into something.

"Who are you?"

When Juvia looked down, her eyes landed on the most adorable thing she had ever seen, and her stone cold features immediately melted into a affectionate one as she fought off the squeal crawling up her throat. Right in front of her was standing a green exceed dressed in a pink frog costume and looking up at her with wide, curious eyes. She remembered seeing him during the Grand Magic Games, he was usually always with someone, Rogue or even Lector. Now that she had met him, she could easily understand why, he was like a child.

"I'm Juvia," the bluenette smiled, as she crouched down to be at his level.

A broad smile spread across the exceed's mouth, as he waved at her, his eyes brimming with childish innocence. "Hi, Juvia!" he beamed. "Are you that girl from Fairy Tail who became friend with Sting-san?"

"Uh," the water mage hesitated, barely containing a snort at the story Rogue had probably told him to explain her presence here. "Yes."

"I'm Frosch," the exceed then introduced himself, extending a paw towards her.

An amused smile crept on Juvia's face and she tried to fight off a laugh in vain. "Nice to meet you, Frosch," she ended up chuckling back as she shook his paw. The water mage got back up and was about to head for the door again, when the exceed took a big step aside to stand in her way, nearly losing his balance as he did so. Juvia stopped dead in her tracks and offered him a dumbfounded look, asking him if he needed anything in a sweet, patient tone.

"Where are you going?"

"Oh, Juvia's just gonna take a walk," the bluenette answered.

"Can Fro come?" Frosch then asked her, blinking at her with his wide eyes sparkling with interest that reminded her of Happy. Now that she was standing in front of another exceed, she really wondered why she had never bonded with the blue cat, knowing that now all she wanted to do was to take the small creature in her arms and never let go.

"Sure," the bluenette smiled softly, already feel a strong affection towards the cat.

The exceed beamed at her, seemingly delighted, and turned around, struttering towards the door and leading the way. Behind him, Juvia rolled her eyes with an amused smile spread across her cheeks before she followed him into the streets, more than happy to have some company for the day. She had to speed up a little to keep up with the small fast-walking cat as they strode down the street, but Frosch quickly slowed down to match her pace and they walked in peace for a while, Juvia finally having time to admire her surroundings as they did so. For the first five minutes, everything was really quiet and serene until the bluenette started hearing a distant commotion. She frowned and stopped looking around dreamily, looking back at the road to see where all these noises where coming from, when she noticed that Frosch was taking them to the Nakamise Market, the most crowded place in the town, especially at this hour from what Sting had told her during their first train travel. She turned her head towards Frosch, about to tell him that it'd probably be more reasonable to go somewhere quieter, when she noticed that he wasn't there anymore. The water mage whipped her head back up, her eyes wide, astonishment painted all over her face. She started wildly looking around her, quickly scanning her surroundings as if she had lost her young child, until her eyes finally landed on the small pink figure standing on the edge of the crowd that was engulfing the narrow street leading to the market.

"Frosch!" Juvia shouted as she ran towards him, stopping him barely a second before he stepped into the crowd. "Where are you going?"

"Fro wanna go to the marketplace!" the exceed retorted excitedly, slightly bouncing up and down.

Juvia shook her head, telling him that she was bound to lose him in the crowd, and the green cat seemed to ponder for a second, his cheerful smile dropping to leave room for a serious expression, before he suddenly seemed to get an idea, looking up again with a big smile on his face. He held both of his paws up towards her, making grabby hands at the bluenette when she didn't react immediately, staring back at him with a confused look. A smile stretched across her rosy lips as she got what he wanted, before she leaned down to take him in her arms. A wave of affection crashed over her as she watched the exceed shift a little in her arms to be more comfortable and to face the crowd, and she quickly grew unaware of the soft glances she got from the people around her as she started manoeuvring through the crowd with the little ray of sunshine in her arms.

After a few minutes of walking through the narrow street, feeling people slightly push her from behind and trying her best not to end up pressed against someone, they finally reached the end of the alley, ending up on the giant marketplace. It was just like the first time, the sun was shining brightly above the place, forcing the stallholders to wear wide, colorful hats matching their flowery stalls. Everyone was walking in the same direction, and from their point of views, the paths created by the differents booths looked like a maze.

"Juvia wishes there was a place like that in Magnolia," the bluenette thought aloud.

Frosch didn't even seem to hear what she had just said, staring ahead and wagging his tail happily. Behind her, the crowd was still flooding into the marketplace, slightly pushing her forward, and, feeling like she was going against the current, Juvia ended up joining them and entered the maze.

They spent almost an hour wandering through the marketplace, stopping each time something on a stall caught Frosch's eyes, which happened every two minutes. He was apparently really sensitive to smells, and it didn't matter whether it was from a perfume or a flower: everytime the exceed snapped his head towards a stall, Juvia knew he had just caught the scent of something he'd want to take a closer look at. The water mage didn't mind at all and actually enjoyed taking her time. Unlike her first day here, she was spending some quiet time she didn't know she needed. She had never felt so serene. That, until Frosch noticed she already knew this place.

"Did Juvia come here during the Grand Magic Games?"

Juvia glanced at Frosch from the corner of her eyes, and shook her head. "No, Juvia came here with..." she trailed off, slowing down in her steps.

She came here with Sting, Sting who was upset with her and wouldn't even come out of his office to look at her in the eyes. She didn't know why she felt so bad about this, she wasn't his friend after all, they had only truly met each other two days ago, but she felt like it wasn't supposed to be like that. It didn't feel right. Juvia knew it was strange but at the moment, she wondered if they weren't meant to meet each other and become friends. In a few hours only, the dragon slayer had managed to make her discover a whole new side of herself. She felt like something big was bound to happen when they were together, and she was about to miss it. She was losing a chance to become so much more than who she already was.

"Juvia?"

The bluenette looked down to the green exceed in her arms and met his wide, curious eyes. She then noticed that she had come to a stop in the middle of the path, forcing people to avoid her as they made their way down the marketplace. "Maybe we should head back, it's almost time for lunch," Juvia told Frosch, already turning around to leave. This one didn't answer, not noticing how her mood had suddenly dropped.

When they finally got out of the place, reaching the calmer streets near Sabertooth, Juvia let him down and they silently walked back to the guild. Once they got inside, the exact same scene from the morning happened and Juvia felt a couple of dirty glares thrown in her direction. This time, she didn't have the strenght to face them. She kept her head down and tried her best to ignore the lump in her throat. She had never felt so unwanted in her life, and she had to stay here a month. Realization dawned on her and she could already hear the storm preparing outside.

"Isn't that the girl who spent the night with the master?"

"Oh gosh, you're right."

"The modern Romeo and Juliet, you mean?" a voice snickered from a table beside her.

Juvia needed to talk to someone. She needed someone right now.

Leaving Frosch behind, she quickly walked up to the counter and tapped on the shoulder of the first person she saw who wasn't looking and laughing at her. The person who turned around was a young woman with short brown hair and soft features. She had some wide brown eyes, round rosy cheeks and pointy nose that made her look approachable and trustworthy. For the first time of the week, the bluenette considered herself extremely lucky.

"Excuse me," Juvia started, trying her best not to refer to herself as the third person in an attempt to look normal. The shame was twisting her stomach and she wanted nothing more than to crawl out of her skin. "Is there a communication lacrima here?"

The confused look the girl was giving her quickly disappeared, replaced by a welcoming smile. "Sure!" she exclaimed. "See that door near the bar? It's a small room where you can make calls," she then indicated, pointing her finger towards the far left corner of the guild.

The water mage thanked her and was about to leave when the brown-haired girl interrupted her, asking her if she was from Fairy Tail. The bluenette stopped dead in her tracks and turned back to look at her, hesitant. Seeing that she wasn't about to answer, the girl kept on.

"I heard a mage from that guild was staying here for a while and you kind of remind me of a mage I had seen during the Grand Magic Games," she explained. "If it was really you, I have to tell you I was in absolute awe each time you were in the arena," she confessed, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks as she looked away, visibly more shy than Juvia had first guessed.

A proud smile spread across the water mage's lips, and, without even realizing it, she answered refering to herself at the third person, warming up to the girl. "Yes, Juvia is from Fairy Tail."

"Juvia's your name? It's so pretty!" the girl beamed. "My name's Kaiya."

Juvia smiled back at her, her mood suddenly lifted. She couldn't believe her luck at the moment, she had probably tapped on the shoulder of the only stranger who didn't despise her here.

Not wanting to hold her back, Kaiya told Juvia that she probably had to go but that next time she saw her, she wanted the bluenette to tell her everything about Fairy Tail. Juvia felt a warm feeling of pride course through her at her words, and hesitated for a moment, her eyes flickering from the door to the seat beside Kaiya. After a second, she realized that she wouldn't mind staying here to talk for a while, and, without giving it a second thought, she sat down next to her new found friend, offering her a warm smile.

"Juvia's not in a rush."

Kaiya's face seemed to light up at those words, and she slapped her hand on the counter, ordering a drink for "the lost fairy". Her words held no spite and Juvia wondered for a second if maybe, and despite her first impression, a fairy could live peacefully among saber-toothed cat.

Maybe Sting was right.

Maybe things weren't that bad.


	10. Laughing 'til our ribs get tough

The mood seemed to have shifted and was now much different from the one Juvia had experienced the same morning. Earlier, the hall had felt like a lion cage, where you were constantly being watched and one bad move could get you killed. Now, things were quite different. There was a constant, familiar commotion that reminded her of Fairy Tail and whenever she wanted to say something to Kaiya, she had to talk a little louder than usual to make sure she'd hear her. The bluenette had also been partly cause of that commotion, but when asked she'd probably blame it on Mirajane. The white-haired woman was the sweetest woman, and always handed things carefully, so Juvia wasn't used to real bartenders. When the one in Sabertooth had made her drink slide across the counter for her to catch, she hadn't had time to react before the glass slid of the edge, crashing to the ground. The bluenette had turned her head to offer the bartender a biweldered glance, when she had met Kaiya's amused eyes, who immediately ordered her friend another drink, this time swiftly catching it before handing it to the poor clueless water mage.

Now, they were quietly talking, trying to ignore the loud laughters coming from the tables of the hall and the crashing sounds from the training rooms echoing through the whole building. She could also hear other noises coming from every floor and directions, which quickly made her realize that she had no idea how big this place actually was. Maybe she'd need to visit the guild, at some point. After all, she was probably going to spend most of her time here alone, so, she'd need to find some occupations.

"There's one thing I don't get," Kaiya started as she slowly sipped on her beer thoughtfully.

Slowly stirring her drink with her straw, Juvia was distracted by the noises around her and absent-mindedly hummed back, before looking up at Kayia when this one didn't resumed. The short brown-haired girl turned her head to meet her glance, making the water mage realize that she was actually waiting for her to say something back. "What is it?"

"Is your guild really like..." she hesitated, before making a vague gesture to go with her words, "based on friendship or whatever that's supposed to mean?"

Juvia was pretty glad she hadn't been drinking at that moment because she'd probably have choked on her glass. "We never said it was based on friendship," she spluttered, offering the brunette a dumbfounded look.

"Yeah but it sure looks like it," Kaiya shrugged. "That cutie with pink hair always makes it look like he'd kill anyone who hurt his friends."

Looking up in a thoughtful manner, the water mage pondered over it for not even two seconds before wincing, admitting that it wasn't entirely untrue. With a smug smirk spread across her lips, Kaiya arched an eyebrow at Juvia as if to tell her "told you so", because lifted her beer to take a sip, muttering under her breath as the glass was less than an inch away from her lips. "Count me in as frightened and horny."

That managed to get a hearty laugh from Juvia, who instantly put her hand in front of her lips as if she was mortified by how loud she just had been. She then swatted the brunette's shoulder, still shaking from laughter. "Oh my god, Kayia!" she reprimanded her. This one lifted her arms and shrugged, as if to tell Juvia "you asked for it", before finally bringing her glass to her lips. She then gulped down its content before slamming the glass back onto the wooden counter. "Well," she started as she got up from her stool, "that was great but I have to go, I hope I'll see you again tonight at dinner. You're sleeping here now, aren't you?"

"Yes, Juvia is."

"Great!" Kaiya beamed at her, before turning around to leave. "See you then!"

Juvia watched the brown-haired girl leave with a small smile on her lips. She then glanced at her surroundings, and, as expected, met no familiar faces, only this time it didn't bother her the slightest. She had just spent a great time speaking with a nice and funny person who'd probably become her friend soon, and she instantly felt like her mood from the night before was long gone. The water mage knew she tended to be a little overdramatic, and now she realized that it was probably what had happened. Or maybe she was just taking things for granted. When times are dark, people tend to think the bad days are over as soon as they see the smallest ray of light. She hoped it was the first option.

Getting up from her stool with a soft smile lingering on her lips, Juvia made her way through the hall with one idea in mind: visit the place. As soon as she came across a corridor she hadn't crossed yet, which was probably every single ones, she entered it, and felt weirdly proud when she realized that it led to the one place she was the most interested in: the training room. The noises that had been echoing in the whole guild got even louder as soon as she walked into the wide corridor, and the bluenette slightly fastened her pace, impatient to see how it looked. She never had a training room in her previous guilds, and, knowing Sabertooth's reputation, she expected something pretty expensive. She couldn't have been more right.

The training room was indeed huge, perhaps even bigger than the hall. Juvia could've thought it was an impression created by the lack of tables and furnitures, if every inch of the room hadn't been occupied by diverse weights, machines, arenas and targets. The water mage walked into the room without even noticing the people already training in it, as if their grunts and pantings weren't echoing in the whole guild. She was looking around her in wonder, her mouth slightly open as she admired how complete and impressive their training room was. She couldn't even begin to imagine how expensive all of that must've been. Even though Fairy Tail was considered as the best guild by some people, and especially by its members, Juvia knew that it was still kind of cheap. It held its strenght within its members, and certainly not within the richness of its property. They had built the guild from their own hands, their tables were used, dented, and they had nothing but an immense hall and a few rooms, but it had always been enough for them. Now that she was living in Sabertooth, Juvia definitely didn't envy their building, treasuring her old guild more than anything, but she had to admit that being there for a few weeks wasn't going to be that painful, especially if she decided to spend her time here getting stronger.

She was so taken in that she didn't even notice the stares she was getting, until a particular snort made her notice the lack of noises around her. The few people training near the door, where the weights and punching balls had been set, had completely stopped in their training, staring at her with disdain. Juvia felt her stomach drop, and was about to backtrack to go back into the hall and hope to run into someone she knew, when she heard someone call out her name from the back of the training room. Juvia turned her head towards the booming voice that had just called for her, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Since Rogue wasn't there, Sting was still giving her the cold shoulder, and this strong masculine voice definitely didn't belong to Yukino, she was wondering who could have been trying to get her attention, when her glance suddenly fell onto Orga. She almost didn't recognize him at first since he wasn't wearing his usual attire. His hair was in a ponytail and he was wearing a fitting black shirt with baggy pants, but his thick green hair was unmistakable. Offering him a small smile, Juvia walked over to him, taking the place of the man who had just left his arena, panting like crazy.

"Down for a little fight?" Orga offered her with a smug smile, reminding her that he had actually told her he was looking forward training with her when she had arrived.

Juvia had always loved training, fighting, anything to get stronger, so she sure wasn't about to refuse. Plus, she definitely needed to blow off some steam. "Always," she smirked back, eliciting a broad smile from the lightning god slayer. "Juvia just needs to change first."

"Suit yourself," Orga retorted as he started rolling his shoulders to ease his tensed muscles. Juvia turned around, about to quickly head back to her room to change, when she stopped dead in her tracks, realizing something. The other mage seemed to notice her sudden stop, arching an eyebrow at her back as he asked her what was wrong. Juvia turned around to face him again, looking completely defeated as she brought a hand to her forehead, slightly shaking her head. She let out a sigh, admitting that she had just realized she hadn't taken any training clothes with her when she had packed her stuff. She didn't know how she could've done such a stupid thing. It was as if she had thought she was leaving for some vacations, truly pathetic. The water mage didn't want to spend her time here twiddling her thumbs. "Here," something flew towards Juvia and she barely caught it in time, "use this."

The bluenette looked down at the black shirt between her hands, before looking back at Orga, a light blush creeping up her cheeks when she saw his bare chest before her. Sure, he had spent his entire time at the Grand Magic Games shirtless, but here he had just taken it off, it was different. Trying to ignore the drops of sweat trickling down his chest, Juvia looked down, avoiding his gaze, and thanked him before quickly heading towards the back of the training room where two doors lead to what she guessed were the changing rooms. She came back two minutes after, and, fortunately for her, what was a fitting shirt on Orga was almost a dress on her, reaching the middle of her thigh. One girl in the changing room had landed her a hairband to tie her hair, and now, fully prepared for what was probably about to be a tough training, Juvia got back onto the arena, ready to fight. Orga looked her up and down, not ogling her but jokingly trying to intimidate her, before he went to stand in front of her and spoke up.

"Alright, just one rule for this time: no magic."

Juvia arched an eyebrow at him, a smug smile spreading across her lips. "What, is Orga scared of a little water?" she teased him. She was acutely aware of the fact that he was more scared of putting her in the hospital than of her hurting him, but the joke had been too tempting. Weirdly humble, Orga shook his head and retorted that he thought it'd be better for now if they kept it low, afraid they'd destroy the training room. Juvia was slightly taken aback by his answer. He was clearly being nice, it was no secret he was stronger than her in every way and would always have the upper hand. Orga apparently wanted to put them on the same level, which was disconcerting since he had shown a lot more arrogance during the Grand Magic Games. He had been too confident and didn't think Laxus could beat him for a second. Maybe it had all been just for the show.

"Juvia can handle your thunder, you know," the water mage assured him, slightly lying. Could she handle it? Yes. Would she get out of this unharmed? Probably not.

"Oh, trust me, I know," Orga scoffed. "I saw you at the Grand Magic Games, and I think you're a lot stronger than you let on."

A blush colored Juvia's cheeks, as a small confident smile crept up on her face. She now understood. Orga didn't want to put them on the same footing, but only wanted to acknowledge her strenght. It was as if he was trying to show her some respect, as if he knew she hadn't always considered herself that much of a strong mage. The fact that Orga was arrogant didn't mean he couldn't be appreciative of the other mages' capacities. Juvia had clearly misjudged him and was now realizing that he could be a better company than she had originally thought.

Putting her guard up, Juvia smirked and motioned to him to try and attack her with a fierce look on her face. Orga smiled and imitated her, putting his guard up before trying to kick her side. She had time to block his attack, and yet, his momentum added some weight to his attack and she found herself being swept off her feet, sent flying to the ground. Heavily hitting the ground, the water mage quickly hopped back on her feet and barely avoided his next blow. She then took advantaged of it to drop on one leg and try to kick his knees from under him, her feet meeting a litteral wall. An attack which usually worked even on the monster that was Gajeel hadn't even made the god slayer flinch. He looked down at her with an amused look in his eyes, and she visibly gulped. This was going to be a tough fight.

* * *

Two hours and a hundred of bruises later, Juvia let herself fall onto the mat, completely worn out. Something flew towards her and she easily caught it, having grown used to Orga throwing her objects in a real short period of time since it was the only way he seemed to hand things. After opening the water bottle, she almost gulped its entire content before throwing it back to the lightning god slayer. "God, this was exhausting," she complained as she wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. Orga smiled before he leaned down and offered her a hand. She gladly accepted it and hauled herself up. "Juvia guesses this won't be the last time she fights Orga?"

The green-haired man nodded, telling her that he'd be there everyday anyway so that she could come anytime, before adding that she should probably go rest for now. Juvia gladly agreed, taking the hairtie off and releasing her blue strands as she made her way out of the training room. Walking down the corridor, she started combing her tangled hair, when she suddenly heard voices coming from the hall. This was normal and wouldn't have caught her attention if she hadn't heard her name being mentionned. She slowed down her pace when she reached the end of the corridor, and cocked an ear to hear better what was happening. Juvia would've liked to be strong and mature enough to just keep on and walk past this group of people without according them one look, but, truthfully, who could do that? Except Erza, of course, but that woman simply wasn't human.

"Apparently she slept with the master," a voice stated, making Juvia grit her teeth.

"Really?" someone asked, clearly taken aback. "What a dumbass."

"She seemed nice."

The bluenette's eyebrows shot up when she recognized Kaiya's voice. Taken a few hesitant steps, the water mage entered the hall, her eyes immediately landing on the brunette head at a table not far away from where she was standing. She was surrounded by a few other mages who Juvia recognized from this morning when she had entered the hall and felt a few glares on her.

"I saw her training in Orga's clothes litteraly two seconds ago," a small guy with saggy black hair snorted.

"Are you serious?" Kaiya blurted as her eyes widened. "What a... What a cunt!" she then snarled, sounding as if Juvia had just betrayed her.

Juvia felt her heart drop in her chest, staring at what she thought had become a friend with a saddened look. She could hear Kaiya was hurt, and she wasn't dense enough not to guess that the girl apparently had a crush on Orga, but that didn't mean Juvia wasn't hurt too. She knew there was a bad guy in every story, a mean person in every life, which meant that everyone needed to play the role for someone else, but that didn't make it easier to go through. Sure, sometimes life wasn't fair and that was something everyone needed to be aware of, sometimes you hurt people simply by existing, it wasn't right, it wasn't pleasant, but it was just how things were. Juvia still hated it, and telling herself that life wasn't fair wasn't about to make the tears gathering on her eyelashes evaporate.

She took a step forward and was about to dart to her room, when another voice rose up in the guild, suddenly quieting every other conversation that had been going on.

"What the hell is going on here?"

The few mages whipped their head around, visibly startled, and all colors drained from their faces when they saw who had just interrupted them. Sting was standing before them, visibly fuming as he stared them down with a murdering look. His eyes were dark and one of his fist, tightly clenched by his side, had his knuckles filtering a few rays of light, as if his anger was activating his powers on its own.

"Don't you all have anything better to do?" he snarled, throwing a disdainful look towards the beers the three were holding. "If you three spent as much time training as you did wasting your time drinking, maybe you'd actually get to achieve a mission one day."

There was a deafening silence filling the guild, everyone seemed to be caught in the scene happening before their eyes. Juvia unconsciously took a few steps forwards so she was completely out of the corridor, as if she wanted to have a better view. Her eyes were slightly widen and her mouth agape. She hadn't expected Sting to jump in like that. He didn't seem like a severe master, she thought he'd be more of the type to go and laugh with the members of his guild. Or maybe he had jumped in for her...?

By now, Kaiya had her eyes glued to the ground, looking ashamed of her own behavior, while the boy with black shaggy hair seemed utterly uninterested and the other one anxious. Kaiya looked up, instantly locking eyes with Juvia. Her eyes bored into hers, but she shown no remorse. She kept an unreadable expression on her face, and the bluenette was the one who ended up breaking the eye contact.

"I went through your files, it says you failed your last two missions. It's pathetic," Sting then sneered, before crossing his arms over his chest. "You have one week to bring me back one successful mission, otherwise you can all pack your bags and move to the crappy bar down the street since all you seem to care about is drinking."

As if on cue, people went back to their conversations around them and noises started to fill the hall again. Kaiya kept her head down as she put down her drink and left, quickly followed by the two others, the one with black hair sending a glare towards the dragon slayer as he did so. Sting kept glaring daggers at their back as he watched them leave, before he shook his head, letting out an exasperated sigh. He turned around and was about to head towards the stairs when his glance fell onto Juvia, still standing near the corridor, unsure. He seemed to hesitate for a second, but then they locked eyes, and he saw it. The exhaustion.

She quickly looked away, trying not to show any emotion on her face as she headed towards the stairs. The bluenette wasn't even looking at him, not even acknowledging his presence, and managed not to pay him attention until she walked past him. She felt a hand wrapping around her wrist, stopping her from leaving. At first, the water mage didn't move, not feeling like facing him at the moment. She had already gotten into Kaiya's bad side, she wasn't in the mood to have a conversation with someone who was mad at her.

"Are you alright?" Sting asked her as he slightly pulled her back, making her turn around.

"Juvia's fine. She's been through worse, this is nothing," she shrugged.

She tried to keep a straight face as she said those lies but she couldn't bring herself to fake a smile to pretend she was truly alright. She wasn't lying when she was saying that it was nothing, because it truly was. She had been through so much worse, and usually hearing such things being said about her wouldn't even make her flinch. Juvia had been part of Phantom Lord for years, after all. The thing was that, now that she had discovered what it felt like to belong somewhere and to be wanted with Fairy Tail, she wasn't ready to go back to the hatred and loneliness. Having friends had made her weaker in a way that she couldn't stand being alone anymore.

Juvia looked up, meeting Sting's icy blue irises. His eyes bore into her, and his furrowed eyebrows made her think for a second that he was disappointed in her, which she already knew was a dumb thought. The fact that he knew she had worn Orga's clothes suddenly made her uncomfortable, and the fact that she still had the shirt on made her squirm under his stare.

"Juvia wasn't- she-" she stammered. "Nothing is going on with Orga," she then concluded, her cheeks red with shame.

"Hey, I know," Sting frowned, looking more confused than before. He didn't understand at all why she felt the need to justify herself, especially to him. "Juvia, you don't owe them any explaination."

The water mage nodded, keeping her eyes glued on the ground. She wanted this to be over, she wanted to leave. She was tired. A heavy silence settled between them, and Juvia felt his hand finally leave her wrist. She was about to leave, when he interrupted her again. "I haven't made you visit the guild yet, have I?" he asked her, offering a smile she felt like she hadn't seen in ages.

She tried to fight off the wide smile pulling at the corner of her lips, but quickly gave up, and saw his smile get even bigger. "Come on, I have so many things to show you," he grinned as he motioned her to follow him. She rolled her eyes but still walked along, secretly glad she finally got to see how big the guild actually was.

The first surprise was the pool. Juvia had heard about it, the medias had talked a lot about it and it was mainly the reason why everyone learned about Sting being the new master of Sabertooth. It had been one of his first changes among the guild and definitely set the tone of how what the building's reputation was going to be from now on. What really surprised Juvia was that the pool was actually inside the guild, and way bigger than what she had first imagined.

Sadly, they didn't stay too long there and Sting quickly continued his tour, pulling her along. He then showed her the kitchen near the back of the hall, to which he assured her only a few people had access, including her since she was a guest. Then, he went up the stairs, showing her a common room on the third floor, which was, once again, only accessible to the people who's rooms were on that floor.

"So, pretty much the whole guild is only for Rogue, Yukino, Sting and Juvia?" the bluenette snickered.

"First of all, rude," Sting snorted. "Second of all, they had a pool and a training room, I have the right to keep the food and the fun for me and my friends."

After that, he kept walking through the corridor of the third floor, making Juvia furrow her eyebrows. She was about to ask him where he was taking her when he reached his door and entered his room. Juvia came to an abrupt stop, staring at the doorway with dumbfounded look on her face. After a few seconds, Sting poked his head through the doorway, offering her a curious look. "You coming?" he asked. "I have one last place to show you."

"Sting, Juvia swears, if this is a bad joke-" she said, before trailing off, staring at the two crimson curtains billowed as the night breeze swam into the room, making the two fabrics dance gently against the walls and away from the opened french doors. Juvia gaped at them. "Juvia hadn't even seen them before," she thought out loud, taking a few steps into the room. Sting sent her an amused glance, before stepping out onto the balcony, followed by the water mage. This one was, just like the pool and the training room, bigger than Juvia would've expected. She knew he was the master of the guild, but still, this balcony almost made the size of the room.

"We can see the whole city from here."

Sting was leaning against the balustrade, and Juvia came to join him, her eyes slightly widening at the breathtaking view. At this hour, most of the town was still awake and every lights and crowds could be seen from here. From the people dancing to the street bands, to the small streets barely lit up by candles. It was beautiful. She turned her head to look at Sting, only to find out his eyes were already on her. He had a small smile on his lips, finding her wide sparkly eyes endearing. She was slightly disconcerted by his stare, but did her best to maintain eye contact, refusing to shy away from him, and was about to say something when he straightened up, leaving the balustrade.

"Anyway, I should probably go back to work," he sighed, already turning away.

Her body reacted on its own, and she quickly reached out, grabbing his arm before he left. The dragon slayer turned around and offered her a strange look, bewildered. Juvia abruptly let go of his arm, as if it had burned him, and took a step back. She didn't know why she had done that. She just felt like she needed to take up this opportunity to make things better. She couldn't let this moment go to waste, she didn't want tomorrow to be back to normal. She needed to fix what she had done.

"Juvia overreacted and she's sorry," the bluenette confessed as she kept her head low, a slight blush coloring her cheeks. "She shouldn't have acted as if everything was Sting's fault. It's just that she's not used to this. She's not used to being the center of attention and being careless... It kind of... scares her..." she trailed off, her voice barely above a whisper at the end.

Sting stared at her for a few seconds, his eyebrows still shot up in a bewildered expression, before his expression slowly became an affectionate one, a fond smile spreading across his lips. "Don't say that, I was the stupid one. I shouldn't have taunted Gray like I did," he admitted with an embarrassed smile, rubbing his neck. "I understand that your friends' opinion means a lot to you and I should've been more cautious."

Juvia smiled at him softly, and a quiet silence settled between them, only disrupted by the distant cheers of the crowds and the music of the street bands. "We're both idiots, aren't we?" the blond laughed, shaking his head as he looked away. This time, Juvia didn't answer and simply took a step forward, carefully taking Sting's hand in hers.

"Thank you," she whispered to him as she gently squeezed his hand, "for accepting Juvia's apology."

The dragon slayer looked slightly taken aback, but ended up squeezing her hand back, offering her a faint smile. A small gust of wind came whistling in their ears, picking up Juvia's blue strands, and she noticed a hint of affection hid behind the amusement in his eyes as he reached his hand up to carefully tuck one of her strands back behind her ear. She let herself lean into his touch, and almost thought she saw his cheeks redden in the dark, when a sudden ruckus coming from the corridor startled them. "Let us go, you idiot!" someone screamed. They both whipped their heads towards the opened door of the room and looked back at each other to exchange a confused look before both rushing out of the room to see what was happening.

"You really thought going directly into your room would get you out of this?"

They watched as Orga dragged Rogue towards the stairs, casually carrying a squirming Yukino on one of his shoulders. Rufus was following behind, not helping one bit and simply enjoying the situation. Juvia opened her mouth, about to ask Sting what was happening, when this one covered her mouth with his hand, motioning her not to make a sound with a finger in front of his lips. He waited for them to disappear into the stairs before indicating her to follow him.

"It's a tradition among our group," he whispered to her as they rushed down the corridor. "Yukino and Rogue went on a mission yesterday, and when someone comes back from a successful one, we throw them in the pool. But I have an idea to get back at them, and I need you for it."

Careful not to be noticed, he peaked over the balustrade of the stairs to see if his friends were nowhere in sight before following them to the first floor. Juvia rolled her eyes at his childishness, but still followed him, quietly going down the stairs and heading towards the pool. Rogue and Yukino's shouts could still be heard, echoing inside the whole guild, and they entered the pool area just in time to see Orga throw them both in the water. There was a loud splash and the two mages quickly swam back to the surface, glaring at their friends laughing and slapping their knees.

Still quietly hiding by the entrance of the pool, Sting turned to Juvia and motioned her to be attentive, before pointing at the pool, and then at Orga and Rufus. He then tried to imitate a wave with his hands, and the bluenette rolled her eyes at him. She pushed him aside and casually lifted her hand, creating a huge wave in the pool, completely still and under her control. Orga barely had time to take a step back before she sent it crashing towards them, drenching the two poor mages.

"Yes!" Sting yelled, throwing his fist in the air in victory. "I finally have my vengeance!"

He strode towards his friends, mocking them, and made the big mistake of stepping in front of Orga. From where she was, Juvia slapped her hand against her forehead, desperate. She didn't even look up when she heard his scream followed by a loud splash, and didn't see when Rufus quietly stalked behind her. When she opened her eyes again, her glance fell onto Sting, right beside Yukino and Rogue in the pool, wearing a grumpy look. She started laughing, when a voice suddenly erupted behind her, making her jump.

"Excuse me, you had something to do with the wave, didn't you?" Rufus smiled at her.

Juvia took a few steps back, refusing to be caught, when she abruptly felt her back hit something hard. A shiver ran down her spine, as she dreadfully turned around, and, without surprise, met Orga's smile. She barely had time to take a step away before the green-haired mage caught her and easily swoop her off her feet. "No, Juvia regrets, please!" she screamed as the god slayer easily put her on his shoulder and strode towards the pool. "Please, can Juvia at least say one last thing?"

Orga stopped walking and turned around, giving Rufus a questioning look. This one shrugged, saying that he granted her three words. Now standing right in front of the pool, Orga took Juvia off his shoulder and put her right above the water, waiting for her to talk.

He regretted his choice as soon as he saw the smug smile on her face. "Go to hell," she smirked, only a second before Orga let go of her and a wave came slamming onto him, making her this time the one to sweep him off his feet.

Carried by the wave, Orga and Rufus disappeared into the corridor as Juvia fell into the pool. She quickly swam back at the surface, only to hear three booming laughs around her, almost covering the distressed shouts coming from the corridor. She looked at her friends and was quickly forced to join them, unable to contain the laugh crawling up her throat. "Oh my god, Juvia, I love you!" Yukino shouted, not even stopping for a second to acknowledge the fact that she was almost drowning. She was laughing so much she was having trouble stay afloat, and was thankful when Rogue put an arm around her waist and lifted her. Juvia was laughing so hard her sides started to ache. She was squinting her eyes so much she almost couldn't see anymore, and all she could hear were her friends' laughter.

She couldn't even remember the last time she had felt like that, but this time, her aching stomach was distracting enough for her not to worry about it. At the moment, nothing mattered. She was finally living.


	11. What this palace wants is release

A shiver ran down her spine as she walked down the corridor, the thin fabric of Orga's shirt barely shielding her from the cold, and the soaked tisue now clinging to her skin. Juvia crossed her arms against her chest, trying to emit some warmth as she shakingly rubbed her hands up and down her wet arms. When they had gotten out of the pool, Rogue had immediately shrugged his cloak off to offer it to the shivering white-haired woman beside him, and from the corner of her eyes, Juvia had seen Sting pout at his lack of jacket to give away. He was now walking beside her, trying to hide his shaking limbs the best he could. Yukino and Rogue were only a few steps behind them and Juvia could hear the white-haired woman excitedly chat about how Orga had it coming with the numerous times he had thrown them into the pool. Well, "chat" was a big word since it was more of the young girl ranting on and on about how she wished she had been able to use Aquarius to be the one slamming a wave into him and Rogue quietly listening to his friend with a faint smile adorning his lips.

When they entered the hall, they were met with the sight of a real wreckage. Most tables were upside down, the place was flooded and some chairs laid on the ground, completely destroyed by the wave that had gushed forth into the hall. While Juvia's cheeks reddened in shame, Sting shrugged it off, too tired to care the slightest about the garbage fire that had become his guild. He was about to cross the hall to go upstairs when he saw a shadow move from behind the wall. Orga appeared in front of Juvia, looking down at her frighteningly. His now flattened hair was shielding his eyes and droplets of water kept trickling down his green strands. Juvia and Sting instinctively moved in sync as the bluenette backed away and the dragon slayer made a step aside to stand slightly before her. That had absolutely no effect on Orga, who didn't even seem to notice his friend's protective behavior. The god slayer took a step forward and brought a hand up, before slamming it down on Juvia's shoulder. That one didn't move, didn't even flinch, but slightly widened her eyes when a booming laugh filled the air. Orga amicably patted her shoulder, his head thrown back as he barked a laughter that could've shaken the walls. Juvia's face lit up and a small smile crept up on her face.

"Good one, rain woman," he grinned. "I'll remember not to get too close to the pool when you're near."

Juvia smiled shyly at him, glad she hadn't upset him. The god slayer let his amused glance linger on her for a few more seconds before he patted her shoulder one last time as a way to say goodbye. When he turned around and left, he revealed Rufus standing behind him, wearing the same amused smile his friend had been showing. His hat was missing and his hair dishevelled, but he didn't seem bothered the slightest by it. Someone she had thought would be very self-centered and superficial seemed more loosen up than expected. She started to feel like she had judged everyone here wrong. It seemed like people at Sabertooth were far more interesting than they let on. Here, an arrogant, powerful man made sure to acknowledge his friend's capacities, a distinguished mage knew how to have fun and didn't mind a little chaos, a reserved man offered his cloak to his friend and a charming player cared about other people's feelings more than he liked to admit. Juvia couldn't wait to see what other surprises this guild held for her.

"I have to admit, you impressed me. I wasn't expecting a fairy to be so fierce." Usually, this would've offended Juvia, but the man's calm voice and polite bow made his words strangely acceptable. The bluenette smiled back, and was about to leave when Rufus' glance drifted to her bare arms. "You must be freezing," he claimed, before taking his jacket of. "If you'll allow me..." he trailed off, gently draping the clothing around her shoulders. The water mage grabbed the jacket resting over her shoulder to make sure it didn't drop, offering him a thankful smile as she did so. From beside her, she heard Sting snort disdainfully and shot him a warning glare, as to tell him not to be rude. He rolled his eyes at her and walked away, heading towards the stairs. Juvia had to jog a little to catch up with him, and made sure to bump into his shoulder when she finally got back at his side in the stairs. Sting threw her a quick glance, his eyebrow arched at her childishness, but then looked back in front of him as they reached the second floor and kept climbing to join the third.

"He's so trying to get in your pants," the blond scoffed, keeping his voice low.

The water mage didn't even blush at his words this time, having been expecting it. "Sting's ridiculous," Juvia hissed back. "He's just being a gentleman."

"Sure."

They kept walking in silence, Juvia quietly listening to Yukino's upbeat voice behind them. She could slowly hear the tiredness catching up with her, her voice growing quieter and her words becoming more slugged. By the time she reached her room, she didn't even need to glance over her shoulder to know that she was probably leaning against Rogue for support as she walked.

"Goodnight, Juve," a voice told her from behind. The bluenette turned around to look at the voice's owner, but the door had already closed. She let her stare linger on the door for a few seconds, a soft smile stretching across her lips. Juve, she could easily get used to that nickname.

"Goodnight, Sting," she then muttered even though he couldn't hear her, before entering her room.

She quickly got rid of Orga's soaked shirt and Rufus' jacket before putting on her own oversized tee-shirt she used as a pyjama, before jumping into bed, hoping Rogue's covers would keep her as warm as Sting's fauxfur blanket had done last night. The bluenette then wrapped herself in the covers and reached out to turn off the bedside lamp when she noticed a strange glint on her finger. She still had the ring on from the time Sting had gently put it on her finger after getting it back from Bisca and she hadn't even noticed it. She suddenly felt her stomach drop as she realized that she could've lost it in the pool.

Grungingly getting up from her bed and leaving the covers, Juvia went to get her luggage and quickly rummaged through it before fishing a small white organza bag in which she had put her earrings. She took them out and carelessly threw them back into her luggage, too tired to find another place to put them. She then carefully placed the ring into the bag and pulled on the drawstrings to close it, before putting it back onto her nightstand. The water mage then jumped back into bed, dived under the covers, and as soon as she closed her eyes, promptly fell asleep, her limbs heavy from this exhausting day.

* * *

 _The bricks were cold against her back, her clothes barely protecting her against the icy surface. The cold night breeze was making her shiver, and she felt strangely dizzy, thankful for the two strong hands on her waist. She was stuck between the wall and a warm, strong chest, and she had never been so glad to be trapped. She didn't know if it was the alcohol or the cold air that made her so aware and so sensible to everything that was happening, but at the moment she truly believed she had never felt so good in her entire life. She didn't know if she was shivering from the cold anymore because her entire body felt like it was on fire, contrasting with the cold contact of the wall against her back, and she could feel her stomach doing back flips at every new touch._

 _She couldn't see his face as he slowly trailed his lips up her pale neck, and, even though she desperately wanted to stare deep into his eyes, she wouldn't have ever wanted this to end. A flustered moan escaped the bluenette's lips as she felt him press his body against her further. He stopped his long path near her ear, and teasingly swept his tongue across her neck, before sinking his teeth into her skin, eliciting another gasping moan from Juvia. Reaching up, she tangled her hand in his hair and slightly pulled onto his soft locks, a tingle running up her spine when she heard him grunt in response, feeling his warm breath on her neck. He finally left her neck and his eyes bored into hers, his pupils dilated with desire. She felt her heart jump in her chest, and, for the first time in her life, put her brain on stand-by and shut down all her thoughts as she grabbed the collar of his jacket to pull him towards her. His warm lips met hers, and she was a goner._

* * *

In a sudden jerk, Juvia sat up abruptly in her tangled sheets, instantly wide awake. Her breathing was a little heavier than normal as she looked around her, wildly disconcerted by her dream. It was a memory of her drunken night, she had no doubt about it. It had been too vivid to simply be a dream. She could still feel his hands on her body, his warm lips trailing up her neck. It had happened, and the water mage was ashamed to realize she would've been genuinely disappointed if it hadn't. As she looked at her surroundings, Juvia let her stare lingers on the door for a few seconds, as if she could see him through the walls. Knowing he was sleeping in the room right across the corridor, only a few steps away from her, felt strangely comforting. The memory of their night together made her feel like she existed. It was the stupidest thing to think, but she couldn't have better words for it. Most of the time, she felt like she was just standing in the background of her own life, and remembering a night where she had finally stepped up made her heart flutter like the first night. If she had been brave, she would have gotten out of her room and crossed that corridor, but right now, she wasn't who she had been a few days ago. She wasn't the drunken Juvia or the careless one, she was back to the plain old Juvia who was shaken to the core by the memory of a drunken make out. Strangely, it didn't bother her at the moment. She didn't need to be brave all the time as long as she was always herself, and there was nothing more Juvia than a good old blush and pounding heart.

So, with a warm feeling settling in her stomach, Juvia leaned back in her bed and wrapped herself in her blankets, ignoring how badly she wished she'd fall asleep right back into the same dream as she closed her eyes.

The next time she opened her eyes, Juvia woke up to a knocking sound on her door, and not to a warm feeling of lips against her neck. She sat up and looked around her with half-lidded eyes, barely awake, when there was another knock on her door, urging her to open it. Fortunately, this didn't leave her enough time to dwell on her dream, or lack thereof. The bluenette left her warm covers with an annoyed grunt and went to open her door, revealing Rogue standing behind it, patiently waiting for her.

"Oh, hi Rogue-san," her face lit up as she greeted him, her sour morning mood now completely gone.

"Hi, Juvia," he greeted her back, a hint of a smile hovering on his lips. "We're all having breakfast together downstairs and I was wondering if you'd like to join us."

"Oh, sure! Juvia'd love to!" the water mage exclaimed as she turned away and quickly went to throw some pants on. She left the door open since she already had an oversized shirt on, and Rogue stayed in the doorway, letting his glance wander around his old room until his eyes settled on the white organza bag on her nightstand. His eyebrows furrowed as he took a few steps into the room, grabbing the bag to take a closer look at it with a thoughtful expression on his face. Juvia was just done putting her pants on and turned around, seeing him with the ring between his hands.

"Juvia guesses Sting already told Rogue-san about this," she sighed.

Rogue glanced up to meet her eyes, before looking back down at the ring, looking mildly disconcerted by it. "Yeah, he explained everything to me," he said. Juvia frowned, confused about his behavior, and what about to ask him if he was mad at them but stopped herself before a single word came out of her mouth. It wasn't actually them getting married that seemed to unsettle him, but more of the ring itself. He was staring at it with ever so slightly narrowed eyes as if he was trying to figure out something. The water mage kept staring at him for a few seconds, trying to understand what was going on inside his head, but ended up giving up, knowing it'd be pointless to even try to get him to tell her.

"Juvia still doesn't know what she's going to do about this," she resumed as she grabbed a brush in her luggage to quickly fix her unruly blue strands before they went downstairs.

"I'll go talk to Sting, but I doubt you two got married."

Juvia whipped around, her brush still halfway down her hair as she stared at him in disbelief. "Rogue-san does?" she asked, barely able to fight off the beaming smile pulling at the corner of her lips when he quietly nodded back. She hadn't been thinking about it a lot these last twenty-four hours because she had had a lot on her mind already, but this wedding band had definitely been a huge weight on her shoulders, and discovering that they weren't actually married would probably be the last chain she'd need to break before being able to completely enjoy her time here.

"Yes. I didn't ask him yet, but I don't think he found another ring in his clothes or in his room. He must have just proposed to you," Rogue explained as he put the small bag back on the nightstand and turned around to fully face her.

Juvia had to stifle a laugh, and, hearing her contained snort, Rogue arched an eyebrow at her. "It's still pretty ridiculous," the bluenette shrugged innocently, thinking about how the first person who would've ever given her a true declaration of love was a drunk Sting with a wedding band in his pocket. It had definitely been a night to remember, but deep down, under all the curiosity and interest, Juvia was kind of relieved to have no memory of that short part of her life. Or at least, for yet. She felt like she wasn't ready for now, felt like she needed some time to get used to the idea before accepting that it was real. One day though, she'd definitely want to remember it all, and the regret would be strong if she wasn't able to.

"Anyway, they're waiting for us, are you ready?"

Nodding, the bluenette quickly grabbed Orga's tee-shirt and Rufus' jacket to give them back to the two mages and headed off, leaving her room wearing an oversized shirt and some plain jeans. Usually, this would have been absolutely out of the question, Juvia wasn't the kind of person to go out in public wearing something too casual for her taste, but it was early in the morning, almost no one personally knew her here, and she hadn't had time to take a shower yet. This would have to do. Plus, she had literally drank herself into a new guild and marriage a few days ago, she would be fine wearing a simple shirt around friends.

Rogue waited for her in the doorway and then closed behind her before they both walked through the corridor to get downstairs. As soon as they reached the first floor, Juvia's eyes landed on the right table, drawn by Orga's loud booming voice. He usually could be very quiet but apparently the morning was the part of the day where he had the most energy and he just couldn't contain it. Sitting beside him, Rufus seemed pretty patient, listening to him with a straight face on, as if the god slayer wasn't blowing his ears off, but sitting across them, Sting seemed a bit less tolerant towards his friend. He had his face resting against the palm of his hand, glaring at the green-haired man who wasn't noticing it at all, the bags under his eyes making him look even more threatening. He apparently wasn't really a morning person, and even Yukino's tired smile couldn't cheer him up. As soon as Juvia and Rogue entered his eyesight, his sour expression didn't change, but the corner of his lips flicked upwards as he threw a smooth "hey you" towards Juvia. That one rolled her eyes but still responded with an amused smile, thinking that it was probably what she'd have to endure everyday now that he wasn't giving her the cold shoulder anymore. She wasn't about to complain, his flirty side was quite endearing.

"Why does she get a "hey you" and I don't?" Rogue asked as he sat down, staring straight at Sting.

This one gave him an exasperated look. "She's cute, you're not," he deadpanned.

"Rude," Rogue retorted with a blank, disinterested look on his face that truly did not match his words.

Ignoring their exchange and Yukino's words as she tried to assure her friend that he was, in fact, cute, Juvia went around the table to reach Orga and Rufus before handing them their clothes as she once again thanked them for their courtesy. The two both smiled at her and simply nodded, about to go back to their conversation, when they all heard a loud snort coming from the table beside them. Juvia turned her head towards the sound and was met with a couple of foreign faces staring straight at her, their eyes flickering from her to the clothes she had just handed as they quietly snickered behind their hands.

"Alright," Sting sighed as he put his hands flat on the table to stand up, "I'm gonna go rip their faces off, I'll be right back."

Yukino rolled her eyes, and before anyone could make a move to stop Sting, put her hand on his shoulder to push herself up and sit him back down at the same time, leaving without saying another word. Sting stayed down and stared at her leaving with a confused look on his face. He turned back to the others, giving them a questioning look, and Rogue simply shrugged, going back to the plate he had left behind when he had gone to get Juvia. That one locked eyes with the dragon slayer and, when she heard another snicker coming from behind her, ducked her head and went to sit down next to Rogue. Sting glared at the table near them, his lips drawn in a tight line. His fists were clenched, and he felt the urging need to punch something, but just as he was about to get up again and stomp towards his target, Yukino strode back in with a handful of clothes in her arms. She was slightly panting, as if she had run up the stairs, knowing Sting wouldn't contain himself for long. He wasn't known to be a patient man.

"Um, Yukino why do you have my cloak?" Rogue asked her, an eyebrow arched in wonder.

Without offering any explanation, the white-haired woman threw the said cloak towards Sting. She then gave the other dragon slayer Rufus' scarf, threw a sweater towards Juvia and proceeded to put the rain woman's hat on. "Here, now maybe they're gonna realize no one cares about these stupid clothes," she then concluded, slumping back down onto the bench. The tiniest smug smile crept up on her face when she saw that the table next to them had indeed stopped snickering, and were now staring at them, bewildered. They all exchanged a confused glance, and, recognizing that there was nothing to laugh about anymore, went back to their conversation. Juvia turned back towards Yukino, about to thank her, when she finally noticed her wearing her old hat. She frowned, and asked her where she had found that. Sting answered instead of her, saying that he had found her clothes the night they had come back from Fairy Tail.

"Why didn't Sting give them back earlier?" the bluenette frowned.

"Because I had the best joke for when I was going to give them back but I couldn't do it as long as we weren't talking to each other," the blond answered sheepishly, rubbing his neck.

"Well, what was the joke then?"

"I forgot."

There was a beat of silence as the entire table stared at Sting exhaustingly. Yukino put her face between her hands, way too tired for this. Meanwhile, Rogue was still quietly eating without a care in the world, unbothered. He was probably too used to Sting to care about his antics anymore, just like Orga and Rufus who were already back to their own conversation. Juvia chose to ignore him as well and put the sweater Yukino had given her on. She quickly noticed something weird, and paused, pondering over what had caught her attention. The smell. It was Sting's cologne. Probably one of the only things she could remember from her blackout night. Juvia whipped her head up to look at Yukino, and saw that this one was already staring at her with the hint of a smirk hovering on her lips. The water mage's glance then drifted to Sting who was sitting next to her, and met his amused eyes, a smug smile spread across his lips. Juvia was then left with no better solution than to look down at her laps as she played with the hem of the sweater, flustered as her cheeks started to burn up. Yukino exchanged an amused glance with Sting, mutually deciding that teasing Juvia for the next few weeks would be a great activity. "Anyway, I have to go back to work," the blond exclaimed as he got up, promptly leaving.

"So, I was thinking about training a bit this morning and then Yukino will show you around," Rogue started as he started getting up, done eating.

Juvia had been watching Sting leave and go upstairs, not even noticing as Rufus, Orga and Yukino went on their way. She looked back at the brunet and got up, still glancing over her shoulders towards the master's office from times to times. "Sting is gonna be in his office all day again?" she asked, strangely disappointed knowing that she once again wouldn't see him before tonight.

"Well yeah." The brunet then frowned, slightly tilting his head in confusion. "You thought he stayed in his office all day just to spite you?"

"Yes, I mean, no, but..." Juvia spluttered, not wanting to sound self-centered but also refusing to lie to him. "The first day Juvia woke up here he didn't work that much."

"Yeah, because he had to take care of you," the dragon slayer shrugged. "When Jiemma quit, he left a real mess behind him. There's a lot of debts, complaints, warnings... Now Sting has to take care of everything while still being in charge of Sabertooth everyday, so he doesn't have a lot of time on his hands anymore."

Once again staring at the closed office door, Juvia simply nodded, a thoughtful look on her face. Before she even knew what she was doing, she told Rogue she'd be back in a minute and headed towards the stairs, ignoring as the dragon slayer told her that not many people were allowed in. It didn't seem that important anyway since he didn't go after her, letting her go up the stairs to go knock on the office door. Sting barely had time to tell the person to go away before she opened the door, letting herself in.

Sitting at his desk in a massive armchair that looked way too comfortable to be real, Sting was looking down at a sheet, his forehead resting on the palm of his hand, but snapped his head up at her entrance, glaring daggers at whoever had come in like that. When his glance fell onto her, his features instantly softened, a small amused but tired smile even stretching across his lips. "God, woman, where are your manners?" he quietly laughed as he looked back at the paper in front of him.

Juvia wasn't listening to him, looking around her as she took in her surroundings. The office was pretty big, probably the same size as Makaroff's, but the furniture looked a little more expensive, Sting probably hadn't bothered to change the one Jiemma's had chosen. The lighting was dimmed and created a warm atmosphere of intimacy, the place was overall clean and nice-looking, but there was one problem. The wide wooden desk was covered in sheets. Saying that Sting was drowning in the paperwork wouldn't even be an exaggeration, there was so many files around him she had no idea how he managed to get things done in these conditions.

The blond was back to working on his paper but this time didn't have his forehead against his palm, meaning Juvia could take a good look at his face. What she saw didn't please her. The sight of the dark bags under his eyes and his pale skin as he sat down at a desk entirely covered by endless work clenched her guts. He had so many responsibilities. She couldn't believe how dumb she had been. She had spent her entire time with him thinking he had no problem in his life, thinking everything was a game for him and she was the only one who felt worried. Now that she saw how much weight he had on his shoulders, she couldn't regret more the way she had put the entire blame on him for their night together. At least, the bluenette now understood why he had been so upset by her accusations. He already had a lot on his mind, he didn't need her to add up to it.

"Maybe Sting-san should try to rest a little," the water mage suggested hesitantly as she took a few steps to stand in front of the desk, "for that morning, at least."

Sting didn't even look up, simply shaking his head as he replied that he wished he could but he had too much work on his hands and too many letters waiting for replies. Juvia bit her lower lips as she stared at him for a few seconds, pondering over what to do, when her eyes suddenly landed on yet another pile of sheets he hadn't touched, her face lighting up. She grabbed some of the papers on top of it, a pen, and sat down on the desk, knowing that, given how wide it was, she wouldn't bother the dragon slayer by sitting there anyway. That one finally looked away from his work, arching an eyebrow at her as he asked her what she was doing, not that he didn't like having her sitting on his desk.

"Juvia's helping you," the bluenette retorted determinedly. "She used to help her friend Sol with the accounting in her old guild, she's sure she can try to figure out some of the debts."

Sting stared at her for a few more seconds with a bewildered look, before going back to his work with a small smile stretched across his lips. He wasn't even sure she'd managed to help him, but he wasn't about to say anything about it. He was more than glad to have her by his side.

* * *

It was now almost midnight, and Yukino was fuming. She had no idea where Juvia was, and hadn't gotten to see her all day. She of course wasn't mad at the bluenette, even though she would've liked to spend time with her in the afternoon, she hadn't been clear enough about it. No, the problem was Rogue. This one had refused to tell her where the water mage was, but the white-haired woman knew he was aware of where she was since he was a terrible liar. He had kept his mouth shut all day, and she had no idea why. Now, she had to resort to asking Sting, a thing she hadn't done before since the blond probably had no idea either. She usually wouldn't have bothered him, especially since it was now way too late to spend time with Juvia, but she hadn't found the woman in her room and was getting worried. So, stomping her way upstairs, Yukino headed towards the master's office, and immediately opened the door, not bothering to knock, when she stopped dead in her track, a hand covered her mouth as an inaudible gasp escaped her lips. If she had been in a cartoon, heart shapes would've replaced her eyes, but, since she wasn't in one, Yukino had to settle for the broad smile that stretched across her lips as she fondly stared at the scene displayed in front of her.

Juvia and Sting were both on the floor, surrounded by papers and pens. The blond was sat against his desk, his head lolled back as he lightly snored. Juvia was laying down next to him, her legs overlapping his and her cheek pressed against a paper she had probably been working on before falling asleep over it. Yukino had to fight off the chuckle that was crawling up her throat, and took a few steps back to exit the office before quietly closing the door behind her. Now, she definitely understood why Rogue had refused to tell her where Juvia was. If she had known, she would've definitely dragged her off this office hours ago to make her go explore the city with her. She had to thank Rogue for this. The regret would have been unbearable if she had stopped such an adorable scene from happening.

As she went down the stairs, Yukino couldn't stop herself from smiling, the memory of her two friends sleeping next to each other still fresh in her mind.

These next few weeks were definitely going to be interesting.


	12. Just move in close to me, closer

If Sting had to remember all the times he fell asleep in his office, he'd probably spend days trying to list them all. With his new role as master of Sabertooth and the hundredth of responsibilities that had come along with it, the blond barely had time to go out and enjoy his days anymore. It was common for him to wake up slouched over his desk, with a subtle stain of drool on the new complain he had to answer, and a terrible back cramp that was going to bother him all morning. At first, this kind of mornings depressed Sting more than anything. He hated this office, he hated this job, he wanted his old life back. The few first days had been ecstatic, he enjoyed being in charge of things, but as the days went by, realization started to dawn on him as he slowly discovered the mess that Jiemma had left behind him. Now, he was more used to it, not really minding his new role anymore and not caring about where he woke up, but he recalled his stomach dropping as he had looked around him during the first days, waking up all alone in his dark and cold office, surrounded by an amount of work he wasn't sure he could handle. Sting wished he had Juvia back then, because waking up to the smell of coffee was definitely something he wasn't used to and already liked.

The sun had just risen when Sting grudgingly cracked an eye open, the light filtering through the curtains he didn't recall opening. The strong smell of coffee instantly invaded his nostrils, completely waking him up as the blond opened his eyes and started to straighten himself, wincing at the pain in his back from the entire night he had spent sitting against his desk. He met two wide blue doe eyes and his mood was instantly lifted. Juvia had a soft smile on her lips as she crouched down next to him, holding up a fuming cup of coffee. It was early in the morning and she managed to smile at him, even going as far as making his grumpy mood go away. That woman was unbelievable.

"Hi Sting!" she greeted him, as she moved the cup towards him.

The dragon slayer smiled back at her as he took the offered cup and thanked her. He was about to ask her how early it was, wondering if maybe he could take some time for himself before going back to work, when he noticed that she was still wearing his sweater, having slept in it. The blond reached a hand out to gently pull at the hem of the sweater, bringing her attention to the cloth. "It suits you," he smiled, looking weirdly contend with her attire. Juvia smirked, smelling his possessiveness from miles away. He let go of the cloth to look up at her, and met her deep blue eyes, noticing a hint of mischief glinting in them.

"More than Orga's shirt and Rufus' jacket did?" she snickered.

He scrunched up his nose in discontent at that, not even trying to hide his jealousy anymore. "Way more," he reaffirmed. "You should probably only wear my clothes from now on. For fashion purposes, you know," the blond then nodded to himself, making Juvia snort.

"Fashion purposes?" the bluenette repeated, barely able to hide the smile pulling at the corners of her lips.

"Yeah," Sting shrugged, desperately wanting to laugh but keeping up the act. Juvia pouted, unconvinced, and stared at him for a few seconds, as if she was pondering over his answer.

"Juvia's not sure she can buy that," she ended up saying, slightly shaking her head.

"Well Juvia will have to."

A playful smirk spread across Juvia's lips as she leaned a little towards him, surprisingly keeping her balance as she was still crouched down. "Isn't it more because of jealousy?" she teasingly asked him in a low voice, only inches away from him. It could've been a really intimate and romantic moment, if the two hadn't been idiots.

"I'm not sure I know that word, sorry," Sting retorted, stubborn.

"Oh, yeah, Juvia should've expected that, next time she'll use some simpler words, she swears."

"You little-" the dragon slayer gasped as he put his cup of coffee down to tackle the bluenette to the gound. Since she was still crouching down, that one had no control over her balance and instantly fell backwards. He landed on top of her and she squirmed under his weight, trying to escape, when he softly called her name, making her look up. His eyes bore into hers and she stopped moving from under him, speechlessly staring back at him. She felt a blush creep up her cheeks but was too caught in the moment to care. Sting's eyes were strangely calm, and when he opened his mouth again to talk, his tone was serious but soothing at the same time.

"I'm now gonna have to kill you for saying such hurtful words to the handsome man that I am and I'd like you to stop moving so I don't get blood everywhere," he calmly threatened her, his face blank from any emotion.

This made Juvia scoff as she swatted his arm, and the blond chuckled before finally getting up. He then held out a hand for her and hauled her up, before turning towards his desk. "Anyway, I'll go grab a quick breakfast and probably go back to work right after, I feel like I almost caught up with all my work, I don't wanna slow down now," he said as he turned around to look at Juvia, arching an eyebrow when he met her eyes sparkling with determination.

"Juvia's staying," she claimed. From the resolved look on the bluenette's face, Sting already knew he'd have no way of convincing her not to. Also, he didn't want her to leave so what was the point. He smiled at her and motioned for her to follow him as he walked out of the office to go eat. They both went down the stairs and Sting immediately headed towards a table he seemed to be familiar with. Juvia instinctively slowed down a little in her pace as she noticed there wasn't any faces she recognized sitting at that table, but the dragon slayer quickly noticed her change of behavior and put a hand behind her back to encourage her, giving her a reassuring smile. He knew she already had lived a pretty bad experience among the other members of his guild, but he truly hoped she wasn't already shutting out the whole guild.

Sighing, Juvia gave in and let him pull her along. She grudgingly sat down next to a mage who was half asleep on his chair, only acknowledging the conversation when he had to glare at his snickering friends, and, preparing herself for a long meal, Juvia looked down and tried to make herself as invisible as possible. She was indeed shocked to later discover that they were all actually really nice. As the conversation went on, the water mage started understanding more and more why Sting seemed so close to them. They were all pretty funny overall, and exactly the type of people she'd picture the dragon slayer hanging out with, and none of them seemed to pay too much attention to the reason why she was here or why she was so close to Sting, something she was really thankful for. None of them were too serious or too over the top either, they were just really relaxed and being with them even for just a minute could probably ease the most tormented soul. Even though there was not a single minute spent at this table without hearing some snickers or words dripping with sarcasms, the conversation stayed really friendly and casual, making it more than endearing.

As the minutes passed, Juvia slowly started warming up to them, laughing when they shot her a playful remark or even taking part in the light teasing they directed at Sting. She felt her shoulders becoming less tensed and finally began eating, grabbing the bread and others aliments put on display at the middle of the table. Sadly, she quickly wished she hadn't started eating when the man sitting next to her finally talked to her while she had her mouth full. She quickly gulped down her food and tried to ignore his snort as she answered him, knowing she had just made a fool of herself stuffing her mouth like that. It wasn't her fault, really, she had no idea he'd talk to her at some point. The man with shaggy brown hair and constantly half-lidded gray eyes had seemed incredibly bored and disinterested during the whole meal. Forced to sit down next to him, Juvia had found herself being really intimidated by his tall frame and blank eyes, so, naturally, she hadn't planned on talking to him at all, not wanting to pester him. Weirdly, he had been the one to break the ice, and, once again, the water mage was really thankful for it, because she was having a great time chattering with him. The mage, apparently named Ren, had first talked to her because he was wondering how the poor soul had ended up at such a table. It had made her laugh and she had instantly warmed up to him, having way less social barriers since she integrated Fairy Tail. It had then lead them to different subjects, ranting about the most absurd things. Their characters didn't match at all, which was probably why it was so pleasant to banter with him.

"Juvia really doesn't see what's the problem with having matching hair and eyes."

"If you stand in front of a blue wall do people even see you?" Ren asked her, leaning back in his chair, his arms crossed against his chest as he stared at her with a bored look on his face.

"Of course, they do!"

"I only trust what I see, sorry," the brunet shrugged, still looking as disinterested as before.

Juvia opened her mouth, about to snap back, when she noticed Sting getting up and turning around to leave. She quickly told Ren she had fun with him but she had to go back to work, before shooting up and jogging a little to catch up with Sting. That one was already halfway up the stairs, and threw her an amused glance over his shoulder when he saw her rushing behind him.

"So, had a great time with Ren?" he smiled at her.

"Yes, he's such a nice person!" Juvia beamed at him, following him as he reached the third floor and crossed the corridor.

"Maybe not nice, but definitely cool," the dragon slayer chuckled as he reached his door. He stopped right in front of it, and turned to look at Juvia with his hand on the handle. "You're lucky you were sat next to him and not Gin, though, Ren was cool enough not to tease you but the other moron would've gladly have."

The bluenette was also about to get in her room to take a shower, when she turned around to frown at Sting, confused. "Why would he tease Juvia?"

"You forgot to change."

The bluenette barely had time to react before the door to Sting's room closed, leaving her on her own in the corridor, gaping at the sweater she was still wearing. A blush crept up her cheeks as she realized she had been wearing this the entire day before and all night. Wanting nothing more than to take it off, the water mage scrambled into her room, looking forward for a steamy shower that'd cleanse her from any night mistake.

* * *

"I hope Juvia's mission is going well."

Keeping his eyes on the request board, Gray ignored the dumbfounded look his friends gave him, keeping himself from rolling his eyes at the awkward silence that had suddenly settled between them. He hadn't meant to say this out loud, but they had been arguing about a mission and looking at the sheets had made him think about his bluenette friend he hadn't seen in almost a week. The ice mage wasn't the kind of person to blurt things out loud like that, but he felt like she had been in the back of his mind for days and just had resurfaced when he had seen the missions' sheets.

"Why are you even thinking about her, dude? I thought you were mad at her," Natsu asked him, as clueless as ever.

Gray gritted his teeth, glaring at his dumb friend. "I'm not mad at her," he hissed. "I was just-"

"In a bad mood, yeah, sure," Lucy interrupted him without even looking at him, turning her back to the brunet as she eyed the request board.

That one last comment was the final straw and Gray shoved his hands in his pockets, shoulders hunched as he turned around to leave. He heard Natsu grumble over the "idiotic moody icecube" he was and clenched his fists inside of his pockets but kept walking, too much of in a bad mood already to start a fight. He went to sit down at the counter and met Mirajane's apologetic eyes. A grunt crawled up his throat when he realized she had heard everything.

"I'm sure Sting and Juvia are getting along fine." The brunet didn't even have to turn his head to know who that raspy, loud voice belonged to. "I'd even say hanging out with Sting will be good for Juvia, she needs to kind of put herself out there, y'know?"

Cana nodded to herself as she took another sip of her drink. Gray eyed the glass disdainfully, before looking away, choosing not to engage in a conversation involving Juvia and Sting with his nosiest, loudest, and drunkest friend. He then met Mirajane's eyes and was instantly reminded the brunette next to him wasn't actually the nosiest. She was intrusive and unabashed, sure, but she knew when to mind her own business and not push it, unlike their infamous bartender who was known to drive people insane for some gossips. Actually, gossip wasn't even the right word. She didn't want to just talk about other's people business and share it with the whole town. She wanted to know their secrets to have the upper hand, destroy them, make them kneel to her, and maybe in the process help them reaching happiness. Needless to say, Gray wasn't in the mood to partake this.

"Cana's right, they must be having a lot of fun together," she agreed with a mellow voice, the smug smile stretched across her lips betraying her sugar-coated tone.

"I doubt it," Gray shrugged back, unknowingly falling into her trap. He didn't want to talk about it with her at all, but he just couldn't resist the urge to disagree with anyone who'd suggest some kind of friendship establishing between Sting and Juvia. He didn't like that. "They fought right before they left. He's definitely too insensitive for Juvia."

The blond was insane, a sadist, a devil hiding behind a charming smile and an outgoing personnality. The ice mage would even call him a sinner if it didn't make him feel stupid. Gray had seen him during the Grand Magic Games. He had smiled at Lucy's pain, had maniacally laughed anytime one of his enemies had gotten hurt. In the end, he had acted like a good guy, but Gray hadn't fallen for the act. So what if he had cried for his cat, it didn't make him a better person. The brunet didn't like the guy, and it'd take more than a few tears for him to redeem himself. The fact that the dragon slayer had shown up to his guild unannounced with a smug smile on his lips and an arm around his friend's waist definitely didn't help the case. Sting had walked in like he owned the place, looked at the people there like they were nothing to him, and to top it all, had fought with Juvia on the way out.

At least, Gray knew there was no way the water mage could even come close to appreciating him. He had already seen her sending him a few distasteful glares during their first encounters, and, even though she had been nice to him when they had come here, Gray was sure she had just been polite. It was rare for Juvia to be truly mean to someone, except when she considered them a "love rival". Maybe she and Sting would share a few laughs and grow more comfortable with each other, but that was probably all.

"Gray, should I remind you that Juvia likes you and that her best friend is Gajeel?" Mirajane smirked with a devilish glint in her eyes, leaning forward with her elbows on the counter. "Trust me, she doesn't care about insensitivity," she then added, offering him a sweet smile as if it'd make her words less hurtful.

Gray opened his mouth, about to let out an offended and high-pitched "hey!", when someone unceremoniously flopped down on the stool next to him. The new arrival made the ice mage tear his glare away from the bartender, his glance landing onto Erza who was ordering a drink to Mirajane with a simple motion of the hand. "Don't worry Gray, Juvia'd probably cut her own arm before she allows herself to like anyone else than you," the redhead chimed in with a blank face, looking disinterested with the matter even though she was the one who had just jumped in. "Even though I must say it wouldn't hurt her to set her eyes on someone else," she then quietly added as she nodded a thanks to the bartender handing her a glass of water.

"I don't care, Juvia can like whoever she wants," Gray grumbled back, looking away.

"Careful with your words, Gray," his friend advised him, slightly shaking her head. "Knowing Sting, he's probably flirting with her as we talk."

Having had enough, the brunet got up and promptly left. Erza watched his retreating form, a thoughtful expression on her face. He was going to lose her. She could feel it. She had tried to warn him during the Grand Magic Games, but he hadn't listened. He had refused to hear her when she had told him it was time to give her an answer, he had stubbornly kept his eyes closed on the situation. Gray had refused to face the possibility of Juvia leaving him, he had been too scared to act on his feelings, and now she was slowly drifting away, going on her own path. She was growing up, becoming someone new, and Erza doubted her friend had a place in this new era of her life.

If only he had listened.

* * *

 _The cold night breeze was making her shiver, and she felt strangely dizzy, thankful for the two strong hands on her waist._

Juvia was staring at Sting's hands, lost in her thoughts. He was working at his desk, looking down at his stack of papers, an adorable frown adorning his features, meanwhile the bluenette sat once again on the edge of the furniture, this time on his side right next to his chair, leaving him even less space than he had the day before. She had been going through a notebook listing the guild's monthly incomes, and it now laid completely forgotten in her laps.

 _He stopped his long path near her ear, and teasingly swept his tongue across her neck, before sinking his teeth into her skin, eliciting another gasping moan from Juvia._

She had tried to focus, but being so close to him after having experienced such a dream made her feel flustered. She felt the urge to jitter her legs, squirm and breath a lot louder than she really needed to, and she didn't like it a bit. She was used to this with Gray, and she was more than comfortable with these kind of reactions when she was around him, but Juvia didn't like feeling these physical reactions anywhere else than with him. So, instead of fighting off the urge to constantly move around, the bluenette had ended up staring at the dragon slayer as he worked, intending to calm herself by drifting off but accidentally letting her mind wonder off to that one dream she didn't want to think about.

 _She truly believed she had never felt so good in her entire life._

Juvia felt her heart jump in her chest, the vivid memory of Sting's lips on hers burning her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to focus on her previous task and erase any image of that kiss from her mind, when a voice suddenly rose up next to her, making her jump. She opened her eyes and her glance instantly landed on Sting, who had lifted his head up from his work and was now looking at her curiously. He repeated his question, asking her if she was fine, and Juvia quickly nodded, profusely apologizing for "dozing off". He arched an eyebrow, clearly not believing her, and told her she could take a break if she wanted to. Shaking her head, Juvia was about to retort that it wasn't about this when the dragon slayer cut her off.

"Juve, you're red, so I don't know what's going on in your head but if you're not feeling good-"

"It's not that!" the bluenette interrupted him, before she sighed and looked away. "Juvia had a weird dream."

"Oh."

"It was a memory from our night," she then added, seeing that he was clearly confused to what she was getting at. This definitely caught his attention and his eyebrows shot up a little, before a sly smirk slowly stretched across his lips. "But it was just the kissing part, Juvia swears!" the water mage then added, clearly uncomfortable under his stare.

"Yeah, I'm sure you wish you had the full version," the blond purred, slightly turning in his chair to face her.

"Of course not, Juvia doesn't," the bluenette disagreed, feeling her cheeks burning as she stared at the floor, refusing to meet his eyes.

"You're sure?"

When she finally looked up again, Sting was leaning toward her, his eyes burning with something Juvia couldn't put her finger on, something unknown. She had never seen someone looking at her like that, there had never been this kind of intensity, and Juvia felt a stinging pain in her heart as his eyes bore into hers. Unconsciously, she started leaning towards him too, as if something was interfering with her thoughts and pulling her towards him. She could feel his breath on her lips and noticed a hint of mischief glinting in his eyes when the office's door suddenly opened on them.

Juvia jerked back so abruptly she almost fell backwards, and Sting had to put a hand on her thigh to keep her steady. She looked down at it with wide eyes, feeling the touch burning through her skirt, and let her glance trail up his arms until it landed onto his deathly glare. She turned around to see who was annoying him, and met a man's amused eyes as he looked her up and down. He then smirked at her, and Juvia didn't know if he was mocking her or trying to somehow flirt with her, but before she could put more thoughts into it, she saw his glance flicker to the man sitting at his desk next to her and all colors drained from his face.

"Try knocking next time, shithead," Sting snarled, making his blood run cold.

The man grudgingly apologized to him before quickly dropping a few files onto his desk and promptly leaving, careful this time not to eye the woman sitting on his desk. As soon as the door closed again, Juvia looked back at Sting and met his dark eyes. Pushed by an unknown force she'd later learn was called desire, the water mage offered him a playful smile and pushed his hand off her thigh before going back to her notebook, this time more focused than before, or at least acting like it. She felt his stare on her for a few more seconds before the blond also went back to work, and tried to ignore how it made her stomach turn.

Juvia knew she was going down a dangerous path, and yet, she had no care in the world.


	13. I'll be your quiet afternoon crush

Sting could hardly believe how fast he had grown accustomed to Juvia's presence. It had now been a few days already, and he already knew the day she'd go back to Fairy Tail, he'd find his desk way too wide. She was always sitting there, working. In a single day, they'd get more work done than the blond by himself in a week. She motivated him, and the breaks she forced him to do definitely help him focusing better on his tasks. Rogue had already tried to make him leave his office before, on the days where he was working slower than a dead man and losing his focus every two seconds, but had only managed to do so a few times. It was different now. Whenever the dragon slayer seemed to be about to refuse to take a break, Juvia would pull the guest card, puppy eyes or really bad blackmail, and Sting would always give in, simply because it was too ridiculous to say no to. Most of the time, they'd take a drink with Ren and the others in the hall, or go run a few errands. People would usually give them weird looks, but the blond wouldn't blame them. The vision of these two opposite powerful mages buying groceries together and arguing all along was quite absurd. That was one thing he liked about Juvia: they had absolutely nothing to do with each other. The fact that she had been his one night stand made it even more hilarious. After these quick errands, the two would get back to work and go back to the incredible duo they were when filling papers.

Sadly, this day was different. Despite the fact that he had barely started his day, Sting had already lost his focus. He was staring at Juvia, completely lost in his thoughts. She was frowning at her current work, and the blond couldn't help himself but wonder how they had ended up here. He had no idea if she even knew what she was doing, no idea if she was properly filling these bills, and yet, he had put his complete trust in her in a few days only and was letting her fill his files without even checking behind her. She was clever, really clever, so he knew that she could handle whatever she was doing at the moment, but the adorable frown she was adorning while he watched her showed that she still wasn't fully used to accounting and was struggling a bit. Sting had completely lost focus, not even leaning over his work anymore as he absent-mindedly watched the mage work. The bluenette had her hair held back in a messy bun, which she had carefully secured with a pencil, and she was, once again, sitting on the edge of his desk, with her papers settled on her crossed legs. As she focused on her work, the mage bit her lower lip and slightly tilted her head to the side as if she was trying to communicate with the numbers on her sheet, and Sting shook his head, sighing.

"Alright, no," Sting interrupted her, putting his pen down, "I'm gonna need you to leave."

The young woman whipped her head towards him, her eyebrows knitted in bewilderment. "What? Did Juvia do something wrong?" Her dark blue eyes were filled with worry and, if Sting had been a considerate person, he would've almost regretted his words, but since he was a moron, he was only amused by how wide her eyes were at the moment.

"Yes," he stated flatly. "You're adorable, I can't work in these conditions."

Juvia stared at him for a moment, her mouth agape, before her eyes narrowed as realization dawned on her. She glared at him, unamused, and swiftly grabbed the pen that held her hair back to throw it at the blond. The dragon slayer snickered, easily dodging the projectile, and Juvia grumbled under her breath as she tidied her now loose strands.

She was about to get back to her work when a yawn broke through her lips. She covered her mouth with her hand before putting her work aside to stretch a bit. They had only started working a few hours ago, but the morning was always the hardest part.

"Well, Juvia's going to get herself some coffee, maybe it'll allow Sting to focus on his work," the young woman quipped as she jumped off his desk to head out.

She quickly closed the door behind her, not leaving the blond enough time to inappropriately tease her about being thirsty, as if she had gotten out fast on purpose to dodge a bullet. The bluenette knew him too well already. Chuckling to himself, the dragon slayer looked back down at his bills, thinking that, this time, he'd be able to work with his mind fully on the task, when there was a knock on the door. Sting grudgingly tore his eyes away from his work and gritted his teeth, knowing it wasn't Juvia since the woman had never bothered to knock on his office's door in the first place. Before he could tell the person to go away unless they had some important papers for him, the door opened and Rogue walked in, looking as bored as usual, and completely unbothered by the annoyed glare his friend was offering him. The brunet made his way towards his desk and sat down in front of it. A silence settled between them as Sting patiently waited for his childhood friend to begin, knowing he was about to bring up a touchy subject and refusing to start it.

"I have to talk to you," his friend announced, his voice unwavering.

"Yeah, I think I got that," the blond unceremoniously snorted. "What is it?"

"The ring."

The blood drained from Sting's face as the confidence completely vanished from his eyes, replaced by a slight wince. "Do we have to?" he asked apprehensively. Rogue stared back at him, unamused. "Don't look at me like that, I didn't do anything wrong." The brunet frowned disapprovingly and Sting shrunk a little under his dark stare, feeling like a child facing a disappointed mother. He didn't care that much about Rogue's disapprobation, he was used to it, what he didn't like was knowing that, in the end, he'd have to agree with whatever his friend was about to say, since that one was always right.

"You have to tell her you two aen't married-"

"That I can do, no problem, consider it done already," the blond confidently cut him off.

"- and you need to tell her what it is," his friend deadpanned.

"No way in hell."

"And you need to admit I'm way better than you."

"Alright now you're pushing it."

The brunet smirked, visibly amused, and was about to say something else when the door swung open again. Juvia strode in excitedly and went to stand next to Rogue, barely acknowledging his presence as she stared at Sting with a broad grin. She looked like a child and the blond would see she was barely stopping herself from bouncing on her feet. The dragon slayer arched an eyebrow at her, a small smirk playing on his lips. Seeing that the blond was, once again, decided not to start the conversation, she began.

"Juvia just had a wonderful idea!"

Sting didn't trust people with "wonderful idea", but he knew that he was only wary because of his past experiences with Yukino. The white-haired woman was way too optimistic about everything, and often dragged them outside to do some stupid activities. Even though he more often than not ended up enjoying himself, he'd never admit it out loud. Despite his cautiousness, Sting raised his eyebrows, encouraging her to continue. He foolishly trusted Juvia to be more reasonable than Yukino.

That one smiled at him, and suggested with an upbeat voice to go work outside for once, since the weather was particularly lovely on that day. She heard Rogue snort beside her, and threw him a confused glance, wondering what was so amusing about her idea. The brunet met her glance, and tried to fight off a laugh as he looked back at Sting.

"Oh, the poor girl doesn't know you don't have a soul yet," he smirked, receiving a glare from his friend.

"Heh?" Juvia's eyes kept flickering from one dragon slayer to the other, watching the exchange with curiosity. Rogue turned his head to glance back at her, before telling her that Sting didn't like going outside. Juvia's eyes widened as she gaped at the blond, taken aback. Based on appearances, she would've expected that from Rogue but not from his friend. Even based on their behavior, Sting's outgoing and extrovert personality had led her to think he was the kind of person incapable of staying inside all day.

Sting rolled his eyes, clearly vexed by her reaction. It probably wasn't the first time he had gotten this look after saying he didn't like going outside. "Don't look at me like that, I just prefer night," he grumbled, looking away. There was a beat of silence, before he resumed. "Last time I went outside a paparazzi came up to me to ask if I had ever slept with Lucy Heartfilia," the blond snorted, staring at his wall with a disgruntled expression on his face. "The one before wanted to know if I had dated Natsu," he snorted, almost amused by that one. "Don't blame me for not enjoying going outside anymore when half of the people there are incapable of minding their own business."

"Juvia thought Sting liked attention," the bluenette blurted out before she could even think twice about her words. She winced afterwards, realizing what she had just said. It was really cold, especially coming from her, but she truly did think he liked having all eyes on him. During the Grand Magic Games, him and his team had put on a real show, and even after the event he had seemed like the kind of people to thrive on attention. Even the blond himself couldn't blame her for making this kind of assumptions.

"I used to," the dragon slayer shrugged. "Now it just bothers me, they're all just waiting for me to screw up."

The water mage pressed her lips in a thin line as her eyebrows knitted in sympathy, understanding what he meant. He already seemed like he was constantly under pressure because of his new, and numerous, responsibilities. Having the entire land watching his every move probably didn't help. It pained Juvia to see him like this. She used to think of him as a great distraction, someone who'd shake up her life a little, she hadn't even considered the fact that maybe he had his own problems too. It was just so much easier to think that everyone else but her was alright.

Juvia tried to exchange a glance with Rogue, not knowing what to do, but that one was staring at his friend with an unreadable expression on his face. It wasn't even mysterious, he wasn't showing no emotion, he just wasn't feeling anything at the moment. Fighting off the urge to roll her eyes, Juvia looked away, slightly biting her lower lip.

"Don't look like that, Juve," the blond chuckled, drawing her attention back on him. "I don't like going outside by day, but I don't mind. I can make an effort for a cutie like you," he then added with the cheesiest wink the bluenette had ever seen.

This elicited a giggle from the water mage, and even managed to pull a smile from his childhood friend's lips. Without further ado, Sting stuffed his pen in his pocket and grabbed his files before jumping to his feet and heading out. "C'mon, grab your stuff," he said over his shoulder as he opened his door. "Today we're working outside."

* * *

"Juvia thought we were supposed to work?"

Sting kept his arm over his eyes, and didn't even seem to acknowledge her until he mumbled back a "We were?" in a falsely innocent voice. Juvia rolled her eyes at him, and nudged his side with her foot. He was laying down next to her, in the shade of the tree she was leaning against to work. They were in a small park she had noticed on her first day when he had showed her around. It was near the lake and slightly hidden by some trees and bushes. Also, the other square a few blocks ahead, much bigger and popular, explained why this small piece of paradise was completely deserted. The bluenette was leaning against the biggest tree around, with her shoes off and her legs slightly lifted so she could work with her papers on her knees, while her friend had been dozing off for already ten minutes, covering his eyes with his forearm even though they were already sheltered from the sun.

"Sting's exact words were "Today we're working outside"," Juvia added as a matter of fact.

"I don't remember saying that," the blond shrugged back, putting an end to the conversation with his stubbornness.

Juvia huffed but decided to give up as she went back to her work, knowing she'd rather see him slack off and relax than kill himself at work anyway. As she started scribbling again, Sting slightly removed his arm to take a look at her. She wasn't adorning the cute frown from a few hours ago anymore, she looked much more relaxed, and this serene expression on her face made her look even more beautiful. The dragon slayer almost regretted being in the shade of the tree, wondering how she would look if the sun illuminated her features.

As the minutes went by, Sting started wondering why things had gone so different with Juvia. He had never experienced a friendship like this. Sure, he had Yukino, but it was different. He considered her like a little sister, meanwhile there was always this weird tension with Juvia, these things left unsaid. They had slept together, after all. They weren't supposed to be friends. Usually, after Sting slept with someone, the other would go away, no looking for anything more than a few hours of distraction. It seemed like Juvia didn't care about these few hours. They had never even talked about it. She knew he had much more to offer, knew this first night wasn't what mattered the most. Somehow, she knew they could benefit more to each other than just a few hours of fun, she knew they could build something incredible together. There was so much to say, and yet, nothing to talk about, because she knew that as long as she didn't care, their relationship would go on quietly, without any disturbance. Life felt different with her, and Sting felt like he was constantly on the edge, waiting for something to happen. She was a much needed wave of change in his new troublesome life.

"Juvia's really glad she and Sting are in good terms again."

The bluenette's sudden words surprised Sting, who looked from where his eyes had drifted as he thought back to her eyes. She wasn't looking at him at first, staring into space thoughtfully, until she turned her head towards him, her eyes boring into his. Sting frowned, slightly taken aback. "I honestly didn't think you'd care that much," he admitted as he leaned against his elbows to sit up a little. The bluenette suddenly looked offended, her mouth agape, and before she could tell him how terrible she had felt, the blond resumed. "We had only met like two days before the fight, I thought you'd just move on," he quickly added to justify himself.

Juvia looked away, a thoughtful look smoothing her features. "It's gonna sound weird but..." the bluenette trailed off hesitantly, before meeting his eyes again and resuming with more confidence. "Juvia felt bad when Sting was mad at her because she felt like she had blown something really important. After what had happened during the first days, Juvia felt like her and Sting were meant for something big. As if when they were together, something massive was bound to happen."

A fond smile stretched across Sting's lips. Something massive was bound to happen. That's exactly what he had in mind earlier. That's the thought that had been obsessing him but that he couldn't put his finger on. Together, they were on the edge. "So what, we're like disaster soulmates?"

He expected the bluenette to freak out at his choice of words, since, based on what he had observed, Gray was her destined and only soulmate, but a small smile crept up on the young woman's face, as she looked down at the grass with a distant look in her eyes. "Maybe," she conceded quietly. She then looked up and met his eyes, recognizing the matching glint of happiness in his blue irises. Juvia felt a broad smile pulling at the corners of her lips, and looked down at the papers in her laps to hide it, when she suddenly heard the very distinct click of a camera.

Sting and Juvia both whipped their heads up in sync, just in time to see someone walking away as they looked down with content at the picture they had just taken. The blood drained from the water mage's face as she realized someone had just snapped a picture of her in Crocus, a picture that was bound to end up in a magazine and expose her lie to her family. They couldn't know she was here, no one could know, she was supposed to be in a mission. Upon realizing the same thing, Sting jumped on his feet and immediately went after the paparazzi, with Juvia hot on his feet.

He reached him in a few wide strides and grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to turn around. The man looked startled and probably hadn't expected them to hear him, or even follow him. When the surprise worn off, his knitted eyebrows turned into a frown and he angrily shrugged off the hand on his shoulder, taking a step back. "What the hell, man," he spat at Sting.

The blond's eye twitched at the nerve this man had, and he clenched his fists, pondering about if he wanted to be seen punching a man in the tabloids or not. He only felt himself calm down a little when Juvia arrived, knowing the woman standing by his side would freak out if he did so. "Listen, I don't want to hit you, and you probably don't want to be hit, so if you could just delete the picture you just took and walk-"

"There's no way I won't post these, man," the man cut him off. "My boss is gonna be thrilled."

Sting clenched his jaw and looked down for a second, squeezing his eyes shut, before sighing and looking back up at the man. "Alright, look at the woman next to me for a second," he started, his voice slightly lower than usual. "Does she look happy? No. Do I look happy? Far from it. And what do you do when you've angered the master of Sabertooth and one of the strongest mages from Fairy Tail?"

The man's eyes kept flickering from the blond to the woman next to him. He opened his mouth, hesitating, as realization seemed to finally dawn on him. "I..." he croaked out, right before turning around and running away.

"The answer was to hand over the camera, you moron!" the blond shouted after him.

"We can't let him get away with this picture!"

"Well what are you gonna do, chase-" Juvia took off, not leaving Sting enough time to finish his sarcastic question. He blankly watched her go. "Oh, alright so apparently we are chasing him," he sighed, shaking his head before going after her.

The bluenette had already disappeared from his sight, and by the time Sting reached her, the water mage was holding the man down with a knee pushing between his shoulder blades. She looked over her shoulder and threw the precious camera at Sting, who easily caught it. Before deleting the picture, he took a second to enjoy the sight of the sweet and polite Juvia pinning a man against the ground. That woman was definitely full of surprised. Suppressing a chuckle, he quickly went through the gallery of the camera and deleted the dangerous picture before carelessly throwing it back on the ground near the man. The blond then held a hand out towards the bluenette to help her up, and promptly left, not wanting to cause a scene.

As they walked away, Sting was tempted to bring up what had just happened, but had to stop himself when he saw the upset expression Juvia was adorning. This was supposed to be a nice afternoon, and yet, they already had to go back to the office, about to lock themselves away with their work once again. That wasn't the experience he had wanted to give Juvia at Sabertooth, it wasn't fair. He couldn't let her do all the work like that. It had been a week already and the most exciting thing they had done was chasing a paparazzi. He knew he had better to offer her, and, after what he had just seen, he knew exactly what he wanted to do.

"Alright," he started, drawing Juvia's attention back on him, "it's been one week and all you've been doing is help me with my paperwork," he looked down at her, a smirk playing on his lips. "I think we both deserve vacations."


	14. Be your violent overnight rush

_**Hi everyone! First of all, thank you guys for the reviews, I can't even tell you how much it helps me writing, it truly keeps me on going. (thanks to rxsegxlden for your review, it almost made me squeal, I wish I could've replied to you immediately with a private message, but yeah I was kind of tired of only seeing the playboy side of Sting in things because he is also kind of a nice idiot, like Natsu, anyway, thank you very much! (oh and also don't worry there will be a lot of drama with gray)) Second of all, I'm sorry, I'm a few days late but I've been a little busy lately, I'll try to write the next one in a week as promised! I'm not too sure about this chapter, I'm proud of the ending but the rest feels a little rushed, I didn't have enough time to write it but I knew that if I didn't write it now I wouldn't do it**_

 _ **Anyway, I'm still really glad I'm posting it because I couldn't wait to show you guys the end of this chapter! Enjoy!**_

* * *

"When you told me about vacations, that wasn't exactly what I had in mind."

There was no answer, Sting staring at the hotel ahead of them with a contend smile adorning his lips. Rogue sighed again, shaking his head. His friend was lucky they hadn't been in the same train because of Yukino's incapability to be right on time, otherwise he'd probably have thrown him out the window when he had learned that instead of joining the coastline, they were heading towards a pretty big town only two hours away from Crocus. The town had been built near some hills, and the hotel they were now facing was right at the foot of them, which already meant their stay here was going to be expensive.

"We just came back from our mission, I can't believe you dragged us into this," Yukino groaned next to him as she readjusted the strap of her luggage on her shoulder with a wince.

Rogue barely accorded her a glance as he took the luggage from her, and kept glaring at his friend, who finally turned to look at them with an innocent look on his face. "I thought you two wanted me to take some time off," he argumented, making the brunet grit his teeth. Sometimes he really needed a reminder of why he was friend with Sting. He liked to think it was because, younger, and even now, the blond had no chance of surviving on his own, and Rogue had taken pity on him. It wasn't because he liked him or anything. Only pity.

"We did, but a little heads up would've been nice," Yukino groaned, exchanging a tired glance with the brunet before her eyes fell onto Juvia, standing silently next to Sting. "I can't believe you dragged our poor Juvia into this too,"

"Actually-" the water mage winced before being cut off.

"Actually she's the one who chose the mission," Sting smiled proudly, unashamedly glad not to be the only one to blame for once.

The two turned to give the poor woman the exact same disappointed look, and the bluenette grinned sheepishly at them, feeling like a child under the two's parental glare. With another sigh, Rogue grabbed his luggage and walked towards the entrance, still carrying his friend's bag on his shoulder. As he walked past Sting, he told him it'd better at least be an important mission. "Depends on your definition of "important"," the blond shrugged as he followed him in. "We're supposed to watch over an auction during a big reception, the reward's more than generous."

Rogue grumbled back that he did not care about the reward but his friend didn't seem to listen, or at least to care, and walked up to the front desk, presenting himself for the reservation. The woman behind the desk quickly checked his name on her files before handing him four keys and indicating him the third floor, right corridor. He thanked her and led the way with a still fuming Rogue, Yukino and Juvia walking together a little behind. The bluenette was looking down at the ground as she walked, feeling kind of guilty for dragging the two others into this. She had also chosen a mission she knew wasn't going to be that easy, curious to see how they would all work together as a team. If she had known, she would've refused Sting's offer.

"Juvia's sorry," she told her friend as they reached their floor. "She didn't know Sting would trick you into coming with us."

The white-haired woman whipped her head towards her, her eyes slightly widened in surprise. She hadn't expected her to feel bad about this, otherwise she would've never scolded Sting for this. "Oh no, don't apologize!" she exclaimed as she put her hands in front of her in embarrasment. "Rogue and I are just a little tired, but we're always up for a mission."

She was doing her best to reassure her, and Juvia offered her a small smile, glad to have found someone so kind during such a strange period of her life. A comfortable silence settled between them as they walked across the corridor, finally reaching their room. Sting threw them their keys, and Yukino beamed at the bluenette when she saw that her room was right next to hers. Sting was in front of Yukino's and Rogue right across Juvia's. They were all about to get into their room, Yukino having gotten her luggage back from Rogue with a thankful smile, when Sting exclaimed that he had almost forgotten about something, startling them.

"Be downstairs in your bathing suits in five minutes," he grinned at them as he opened his door. "Just because we're here for work doesn't mean we can't have a little taste of vacations."

"Sting, it's almost ten p.m.-" the door closed and Rogue was left shaking his head, mentally damning his friend. "Well, I guess missing one or two hours of sleep won't hurt us," he sighed before entering his room. Yukino exchanged an amused glance with Juvia before they both went into their rooms, and the bluenette only made one step into the room before freezing by the doorway, staring at her bedroom with her mouth agape. She knew the place was expensive but she hadn't expected that.

The room was big, even bigger than the one she had in Sabertooth, and the king sized bed only occupied half of the space there. The walls were white with gold trims, and the room was bright thanks to the few wall lights meticulously placed in it. There weren't too many furnitures, not to clutter the place, and with a small victorian desk in a corner, a thin wardrobe across from it, and the kind sized bed made of light wood in the middle, the room looked well organized. Even the smaller bathroom linked to her bedroom looked splendid from what she could see standing in the doorway. With a contend smile on her lips, Juvia dropped her luggage on her bed and started undressing herself, until she realized she hadn't packed herself a bathing suit. Yukino and Rogue had, since they apparently thought they were going on vacations, and Sting too since he was the one to organize all of this, but Juvia had no idea of what he was preparing, so she obviously hadn't taken a swimsuit with her for a mission.

Biting her lower lip in worry, she quickly opened her bag, her eyes instantly landing on a dark bathing suit she knew she hadn't put here. It was on top of all her others stuff and had obviously been shoved in the bag last minute. Shaking her head, Juvia silently thanked Sting as she took the clothe out of her luggage. She held it out in front of her to take a proper look at it, and was surprised to see that it was a pretty yet simple and especially, modest, bathing suit. It was a black one piece bathing suit with golden edges. It was thin and probably revealed a little bit too much of her sides, but Juvia was thankful he hadn't borrowed a small bikini from Yukino. Or at least, the bluenette guessed he had borrowed it from her.

Throwing her cloak and dress onto her bed, Juvia quickly slipped the bathing suit on, glad to see it almost fitted her perfectly. It was just a little too small on the waist since Yukino was slightly thinner than her, but it was alright and she was sure it wasn't even noticeable. Juvia then rummaged through her luggage to find her hairbrush and made a quick stop in the bathroom to tidy her blue strands slightly dishevelled by the hours of travel. As she carefully combed her hair, she heard a knock on her door and didn't look away from her reflection as she told the person to get in. The water mage heard the door opening and walked out of the bathroom to see who it was, still brushing her hair.

Sting was looking around, but then he noticed her by the bathroom's doorstep, and a smirk crept up on his face as he gave her an appreciative look. Juvia frowned at him as she felt a blush spread across her cheeks, and told him not to look at her like that with a scowl. The blond lifted his hands in front of him innocently before he took a few steps towards her bed, walking past her. "Oh, come on, it's not like nothing ever happened between us," he snorted as he let himself flop down unceremoniously onto her bed.

"It was a one time thing," Juvia protested, crossing her arms against her chest, partly to show her discontentment and partly in an attempt to hide herself.

"We've technically never established that," Sting argued as he laid on her bed with his arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling.

"Juvia thought Sting didn't do relationships."

The blond sat up a little, leaning onto his elbows, and looked at her with an eyebrow arched. "And I've also never established that," he deadpanned with an unreadable look.

The bluenette squirmed a little under his stare, suddenly more uncomfortable because of the topic of the discussion than her bathing suit. She shied away, looking at the victorian desk across the room instead of him. "Juvia and Sting are friends. Nothing more," she then added, her voice a little too quiet to be convincing. She wasn't even looking at him but somehow, she knew he was smirking. She could even picture the cocky smirk adorning his lips. She heard the ruffling of the sheets on her bed as he got up, but refused to meet his eyes.

"If you want my opinion, Juve," he headed towards the door and slowed down as he walked past her, leaning to purr in her ear, "I don't think we'll ever be able to just be friends. Not after that night."

The door closed behind him, and Juvia was left blushing on her own, looking down at the ground with slightly widened eyes. She brought her hands up to her cheeks, before completely hiding her face in her palms, stiffling a frustrated scream. She wasn't used to this, and she hated it. Oh, who was she even kidding, she loved the attention, but she definitely couldn't handle it. Juvia was usually the one to like someone, and here she felt like she was the center of attention. She just didn't understand why he paid her so much attention. He always treated her like she was special, like she mattered a lot more than she actually did, and yet they had only slept together. And, sure, for Juvia, it should've been a pretty big deal, but she couldn't even remember it. It was different for Sting, she knew he already had had a few one night stands, it wasn't new to him. He had no reason to treat her that way. It was as if he knew something she didn't, as if they had already known each other before and he was the only one to remember it.

Letting a sigh escape her lips, Juvia ran her hand through her hair, unconsciously dishevelling the hair she had just combed, and walked out of her room, joining the others downstairs. As expected, she was the last one there, but the others didn't seem to mind and simply smiled at her before following Sting outside. Rogue tried to ask him where he was taking them but that one didn't even acknowledge his question as he led them behind the hotel and through a tall wooden fence. He then opened the door and motioned to them to enter first, letting them discover a wide onsen, almost boiling hot and completely empty.

"Alright, I hate you a little less now," Rogue admited sternly, as Yukino next to him beamed and dashed towards the onsen, immediately jumping in it.

Juvia laughed at the white-haired woman's joy, and quickly joined her when that one turned around to wave at her. As the bluenette slowly entered the water, the temperature was uncomfortably hot, but she eventually got used to it and was able to completely immerse herself in it. She went to stand next to Yukino, and leaned against the edge of the onsen with a satisfied sigh as she closed her eyes. The others quickly formed a circle and all started talking about the mission as Juvia kept her eyes closed, enjoying the warm sensation envelopping her entire body.

"So we just have to play the bodyguards at an auction?"

"Not really, it's more complicated. A few galas has already been disrupted by a known thief in the region, he keeps stealing the most expensives items and escaping by creating a distraction with an explosion. We have to go undercover and stop him."

"It seems easy."

"Yeah, but think about the pressure. If we fail, a whole mansion will explode."

"Buzzkiller."

There was a splashing sound and Juvia felt some water landing on her face. She cracked an eye open and saw Sting acting once again like a child and splashing Rogue. That one at first tried to be the mature one, ignoring his friend, until a little wave was sent his way. He let an annoyed grunt escape his lips before lunging at the blond, forcefully pushing his head underwater. Juvia put her hand in front of her mouth in an attempt to stifle a laugh as Yukino bursted in laughter next to her.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" Juvia giggled behind her hand.

"I mean, if they die, then that means we can keep the reward to ourselves instead of sharing it between us four," Yukino snorted, watching the other two try to drown each other without a single hint of worry in her eyes.

"Maybe Juvia can do even better," the bluenette turned to face the other woman, "and keep the reward to herself."

She saw the blood drain from Yukino's face as realization dawned onto the poor girl, and before she could even try to run away, Juvia raised a hand and used her powers to make a giant wave crash into her. "You can't-" Yukino shouted before being completely immersed by the water. The water being too hot to be clear, the woman completely disappeared from Juvia's vision, and, before the bluenette could even try and look for her, she felt a hand wrap around her ankle, abruptly pulling her underwater. She was pulled down with so much strenght her hips hit the ground, and she saw Yukino next to her, with her cheeks puffed as she held her breath. She still had a hand wrapped tightly around Juvia's ankle and refused to let her go, grinning at her mischievously as she went to grab her arm, pulling her even farther underwater. Juvia kicked her foot, trying to shake her hand off, but the woman wouldn't let go, and, not even thinking about turning her body into water to escape, the bluenette started jokingly fighting her friend. After a few seconds, she felt two arms grab her shoulders and pull her up, as Yukino was at the same time taken away by another pair of hands.

They were both pulled up and Juvia was finally able to take a deep, relieved inhalation as she resurfaced, her cheeks completely flushed as she panted heavily. "I could expect that from Rogue and I," Juvia looked up, meeting Sting's falselydisappointed eyes as he looked down at her, holding her with his arms wrapped around her waist, "but coming from you and Yukino, that is very disappointing."

Rogue agreed with him, saying that this kind of behavior was inacceptable, and Juvia glanced at him, not even reacting at the way Sting was holding her. The brunet was also holding Yukino, whose pout was quite frankly adorable. She quickly started mocking her friend's voice, who arched an eyebrow as he told her that she was acting even more childish than Sting. Yukino gasped dramatically at that, and Sting got offended, unconsciously letting Juvia go as he joined in the argument. The bluenette watched them silently, amused by their behaviors. She had always loved onsens, it brought the worst in people. She had not spent a single night in a onsen without two of her friends arguing like children. She could even remember Erza trying, and succeeding, to drown Natsu and Grey at the same time.

Her smile faded at the memory of her old friends, and all sounds seemed to quieten down around her as she went deep into her thoughts. She had spent so many good moments with them, they had been part of almost half of her life now, and yet, Juvia had almost forgotten about them in the span of a single week. Her thoughts got darker and darker until she felt her eyes water, and, incapable of staying near the others when her mood didn't match theirs, she ended up excusing herself and quietly leaving. The others were too caught up in their argument to notice that something was wrong, and told her good night before going back to their bickering. Only Sting's eyes lingered a little longer than necessary on her retreating form, his eyebrows knitted in concern, but Yukino's remark about him being less clever than a five years old quickly pulled him back in.

The silence almost became unbearable as Juvia walked back into the hotel and up the stairs. Tears slowly started rolling down her cheeks, and she didn't even bother to wipe them, as she didn't bother to lock her room as she got in, quickly changing into her night gown before unceremoniously flopping down on her bed. She missed them so much. The water mage had been so careless lately, acting as if nothing mattered and everything was alright, as if her stay in Sabertooth was great and pleasant, but now realization was dawning on her. She didn't belong there, her place was in Fairy Tail, among her friends. She had nothing to do here. And the worst was that Juvia was forced to realize that if she had grown used to this life so quickly, then her friends must have grown used to her absence just as fast. They were forgetting about her just like she was forgetting about them, it was only fair. She deserved it. Gray was going to learn to live without her. He might even have been happy to see that she wasn't there anymore, following him everywhere and bothering him every two seconds. She had felt like he was slowly growing fond of her these last months, but now that she was gone, everything was back to square one.

Juvia took her pillow into her arms and hugged it tightly, hiding her face into it as she weeped. She could hear the rain pouring outside, and it only broke her heart a little more. She missed her family. She missed them and she couldn't even call them. They thought she was in an important mission for three weeks, she had lied to them. She deserved everything that was happening to her, she deserved to be forgotten, and she wasn't worth of Gray's attention. He had never given it to her anyway. The guilt was twisting her stomach, and Juvia squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stiffle the cries that were crawling up her throat. She was obsessed by the thought of Gray forgetting her, and couldn't take her mind off of it. The tears kept flowing freely down her cheeks, soaking her pillow, but the bluenette kept her eyes shut, letting her sobs carry her into sleep.

 _There was blood everywhere. Petals covered in red were scattered around her, and her throat kept itching, every breath she took leading to another cough. There was blood splattering on her white covers and petals crawling out of her mouth, sticking to her lips and covering her clothes. Her cries became more desperate and her loud sobs were stiffled by the petals in her throat, making her feel like she was about to choke. The sound of her own gagging repulsed her as she kept coughing more and more petals, her cries getting more hysterical by the minutes. She leaned forward and squeezed her eyes shut as she felt another itch in her throat, grabbing her covers in her fists and feeling her stomach twist at the sensation of wetness under her fingers, knowing her blanket was soaked in blood. There was another handful of petals in her, she could feel it. She tried to take a deep breath but, once again, choked on the white petals and, this time, as she gagged, she accidentaly swallowed them and had to keep herself from throwing up at the sensation of flowers going down her throat. Stiffling a scream, Juvia threw herself down and buried her face into her covers, losing all sanity as she sobbed into her red sheets. She sniffed and all she could smell was her own blood and the distant scent of flowers. There was nothing but blood and a constant ringing in her ears and she couldn't stop crying and choking on her own sobs._

 _Then all of sudden there was a pair of arms around her._

"Juvia, look at me," some words, really distant, something bringing her up. "Juvia, come on, please."

She opened her eyes and it was as if she had just come to the surface again, shooting up in her bed as she took in a deep inhalation. There was someone right beside her, she could feel it, but Juvia couldn't focus on anything, kicking the covers away from her. The blood was still there, she could smell it, she recognized the faint scent of flowers, everything was still there.

"Look at me."

There was an itch in her throat and her eyes watered before the cough could even escape her lips. In an instant, the bluenette was back to being a mess, pressing her forearm to her mouth to stiffle a sob she couldn't fight off. She felt a hand wrapping around her wrist and taking her arm off her face, and immediately tried to yank her wrist off the grip. The person wouldn't let go and Juvia turned away from the silhouette to hide herself, accidentaly letting another cry escape her lips.

"Please, Juvia."

She squeezed her eyes shut and hastily shook her head as she kept kicking the covers off her body, the slightest touch of tissue against her legs sending repulsed shivers down her spine. "The petals," she cried, her words slightly slurred as if she was still expecting them to crawl up her throat. "They're-" her voice became a shriek and she clamped her mouth shut. There was a beat of silence, only disrupted by her choked sobs, before she heard a sigh beside her. The grip left her wrist and she felt two arms gently sliding underneath her back and knees. Next thing she knew, Juvia felt herself being lifted up and everything in her head seemed to become clear as she got away from the scent of flowers and blood. The hurricane going on inside of the bluenette's head quietened down and her shaking limbs suddenly felt heavy. She let her head rest against Sting's chest as he cradled her in his arms, and, for a second, the water mage wondered how she could have thought even for a second that it was anyone but him by her side.

She heard doors opening and closing but didn't bother to open her eyes, letting the rocking of his steps clear her head. Her mind was still in disarray but Juvia was starting to get a grip on reality again, focusing as much as she could on what was happening right now. She then felt the arms carefully lower her on something soft. She found herself on another mattress, but knew it wasn't hers. The scent, the chillness, the covers, everything was different and she found herself instantly relaxing at the feel of fresh sheets under her, letting herself sink into the bed. The bluenette then felt a dip next to her and finally opened her eyes again, her blurry vision barely letting her discern Sting's silhouette in the dark. Slowly, her vision cleared and after a few seconds she could properly meet the blond's eyes as he looked down at her with an unreadable expression, his slightly knitted eyebrows hinting some concern. The glow of the moon barely illuminated the room, and yet she could still see him as clear as daylight.

"Juvia's sorry," she muttered under her breath after a few minutes of silence, her voice hoarse.

"You had a nightmare."

His voice was calm and he almost sounded exasperated, bothered by the fact that she felt the need to apologize. His quiet words left no room for an argument, putting an end to the conversation. It wasn't her fault and would never be. Juvia looked down and didn't say anything else, quiet as she tried to blink away the tears that kept gathering on her eyelashes. She felt the covers get drawn up over her shaking figure and, without even looking up, grabbed Sting's wrist before he took it back and weakly tugged on his arm to bring him closer. She wasn't even thinking anymore, all she knew was that she couldn't go through what had just happened alone again. She was scared, she was lost, and she needed someone.

Juvia was more than grateful when the blond didn't ask any question and silently climbed into bed, slipping under the covers next to her. He then only took one look at her shivering body before he lifted his arm, inviting her in for an embrace. Juvia gladly obliged and shifted closer to slip under it before resting her head against his chest, enjoying the safety of his strong arm around her.

"There were petals everywhere."

She didn't look up, but he could still see her tired, teary eyes, with a hint of hopelessness glinting in the pit of her dark irises. He didn't say anything and gently brushed away the tear slowly rolling down her cheek, knowing she didn't need to discuss what had just happened but only needed to talk. A heavy silence settled between them, before she parted her lips again, needing to get off her chest the few words that had been on her mind for years.

"He never loved me," she whispered in a hoarse voice.

Sting looked down at her, his face unreadable. Her words were quiet, steady. There was no desperation in her voice, no cry for help. She wasn't asking him to comfort her, because she knew she was well past that. She was tired, and already knew nothing could heal the aching she felt in her heart. At that moment, they both knew there was nothing he could tell her that'd make her feel better. Nothing would stop the rain pouring outside.

"It doesn't matter, love," he whispered in her hair as he pressed a gentle kiss on top of her head.

Juvia looked up at him. Her eyes bored into his, and for a moment, there was nothing. Her mind was blank, there was no butterfly in her stomach or redness on her cheeks, but the sound of the rain had become faint, and the ache in her stomach felt distant. She wasn't completely there anymore. As long as she kept her focus on him, there was nothing else. There was nothing but the warmth he provided her, his arms around her waist and the gentle touch of his thumb drawing circles on her stomach.

She unconsciously leaned forward to give him a chaste, gentle kiss, before laying back down on his chest, listening to his soft heartbeat. It was quick, and light as a feather. It was not supposed to be spoken about, or to be remembered, it was just supposed to be there, to be their moment and to make them feel for at least a second like things weren't as bad as they were. He didn't say anything about it, and she did her best not to think about her old life anymore. They were just here, nothing more, nothing less. They weren't as calm as they seemed, but did their best to ignore the chaos going on in their head and just breathed. For a moment, it worked, and, just for a second, Juvia almost felt like she belonged there.

For a second, Sting's words finally made sense.

Gray didn't love her.

It had stopped raining outside.

And nothing mattered.

* * *

 _hanahaki disease: (n.) comes from two japanese words, hana which means flowers and hakimasu which means throwing up. it's a fictitious disease in which the victim who suffers from unrequited love coughs up flower petals. in the worst cases the victim's lungs fill with flowers and roots grow in the respiratory system, leading to them choking on blood and petals before dying._


	15. You pick me up and take me home again

_**Hi guys! I know it's been a long time since the last update but I had been struggling a bit with my exams. Now that they're over I can go back to writing, and I hope I'll be able to post the other chapters faster! Thank you for all your reviews, they're what kept me from abandoning that chapter.**_

 _ **In case any of you forgot what was currently happening: Juvia helped Sting on his paperwork for a few days before he decided to take her on a mission with Yukino and Rogue. They were all enjoying their first night at the hotel when Juvia got memories from her old guild and had to go back to her room. She then went through a nightmare concerning the Hanaki disease, and Sting, who heard her screaming, rushed to help her.**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

* * *

 _The most vivid memory she had from that place was the feeling of the cold pavement against the bottom of her bare feet, the clear sound of her skin slapping against the ground as they stumbled through the streets. They were walking slowly, looking around, staring at the sky, with his lips against her neck, right below her ear where the contact made her shiver. Their steps were hesitant but resolute and their bodies met each time their feet clumsily smacked against the pavement. It was as if the street was curved and gravity inevitably kept pushing them together, they couldn't step away from each other and walked through the streets as one. Everything was hazy but still so vivid in her mind. How lazy their steps were but how fast they felt like they were going, how fast the entire world was going, as if its spin was fasten by the sole beat of their hearts. How she felt so light, so giddy, as if the night breeze had been continuously entering her body through her lips cracked open by her laughters, and was now filling her entire being, making her feel colder than ever, her skin burnt by every touch. How they kept walking for so long, pleased by the sole presence of the other, touching and caressing, the tension constantly shifting going from booming laughters to biting his lower lip. The night was infinite and as long as they kept on going the sun would never rise._

 _It didn't take long for them to reach the doors of his guild, or it could've taken them hours, with the sun still hiding behind the horizon and every soul in town sleeping, they had no way of knowing. There was no concept of time here, no concept of reality, and her back hit his soft matress before her feet even touched the cold tiles of the guild's hall. She felt dizzy for a second as she softly bounced on the matress as he dropped her onto it, but didn't even break eye contact with him, as if staring into his eyes grounded her. The dizziness, alcohol and tiredness made her feel a thousand times more vulnerable than usual, but she felt safe. With him above her, against her, his hands on her sides and his leg pressed between hers, she felt safer than she ever had before. His lips seemed to never leave her, traveling up her chest, subtly brushing against her neck and cherishing her lips. She craved his touch, and let a displeased groan escape her throat when he pulled back to take a look at her._

" _Gosh you're beautiful," he grunted, letting his eyes roam over her body before she pulled him back towards her, her nails digging into his neck as she wrapped a leg around his waist. "I'm never letting you out of that bed."_

 _And at that exact moment, with his hands on her skin, his breath against her ear, all of his body on top of hers, she felt on fire, and there was no going back to ice._

When she opened her eyes, Juvia could still feel it all. The soft sheets against her back, the calloused hands on her sides and the warm body on top of her. She could still feel everything as if his hands had never left her, and she hated how much she ached for more. The ghost of his fingertips on her skin haunted her, she was obsessed by a night she'd never remember but could never forget. She was torn between wishing she'd never met Sting, and wishing she could live it all again and enjoy every second of it knowing this time everything would be burned into her memory. Juvia would say it was a real nightmare but she also knew she had never felt more alive. She was definitely thriving on attention and she didn't mind it one bit. Thrive might have been a strong word, though. Juvia felt like no one had ever truly looked at her, given her their full attention, and now that she was experiencing it for the first time, it changed everything, and it felt so damn good.

So, when Juvia felt an arm around her waist, opened her eyes for her glance to land on the toned chest her cheek was resting on, and instantly recognized this heaving chest as Sting's, she didn't move. The bluenette barely batted an eye as she realized that she had just spent the night sleeping on him. She didn't worry about all the things that had been clouding her mind for these last few weeks. She didn't think about how they had slept together before, or about how her old guild wouldn't approve of this. It was quiet, no one was there to see, and she couldn't bring herself to think. Juvia was feeling warm and safe in Sting's arms and for now it was more than enough. She threw a quick glance at the window next to her and saw that the sun was barely peeking over the horizon, it was still early. Maybe this was why everything felt so surreal, why she couldn't bring herself to care: nothing ever mattered before dawn. Her eyes didn't even flicker to the door once, the thought of leaving didn't even cross her mind. She knew she could have gone back to her room without a noise, but she also knew that she had never felt safer and no one was there to see. So she remembered Gray didn't love her, and went back to sleep.

When she opened her eyes for the second time, the sun had completely risen and the warm skin under her cheek had been replaced by a pillow. She threw an arm over her eyes with a grunt and lazily turned away from the window, rolling onto the other side of the bed which was much fresher now that it had been left empty for probably half an hour now. Juvia let out a content sigh as she enjoyed the feeling of cool sheets against her skin, absent-mindedly listening to the sound of the shower in the background. After a few minutes of her lazily dazing off in a bed which wasn't hers, she heard the shower being turned off, and suddenly realized something. She did not want to see Sting. Not now.

It had the effect of a cold shower on her as she shot up, ready to run out of the room directly back to hers. She had no explaination for this, but she truly didn't want to face Sting at that moment, not after her dream, and especially not when he was still wet from his shower. The bluenette was about to make a run for it when the door leading to the bathroom suddenly opened, freezing her right on the spot. A thick fog escaped from the room, surrounding Sting as he walked in, as expected only wearing a towel tightly wrapped around his hips. He was using another towel to dry his hair and, luckily, didn't seem to pay Juvia much attention. That one looked down, staring at her hands as she fiddled with the hem of her cover, refusing to look at him. "Good morning, Juve," she heard him greet her. Offering him a tight smile, the bluenette greeted him back without even according him a glance. She shied away, not because she was embarrassed or flustered, but simply because she didn't want to see his abs. Not now, not after that dream, not for another twelve months at least. It was just like the petals. Seeing flowers would probably revive her memory, and she didn't want to think about neither of those dreams at the moments. They were both polar opposite, and yet, both represented the exact same amount of risk towards her sanity. One portrayed an hopeless love, one a forbidden passion. It had never been actually forbidden by anyone, except Makaroff, but it was still enough for the water mage. "Anyway, Juvia was just about to leave," she announced as she got up from the bed, letting the sheets slide off her body.

"Were you?"

All plans to leave the room without looking at Sting's shirtless body crumbled to pieces when he suddenly stepped before her, keeping her from going back to her own bedroom. Juvia looked up, and made sure not to let her eyes trail over his body before reaching his face. She regretted not leaving earlier in the morning when she met his hard stare, his eyes boring into hers. He had never looked so serious, so intense. The bluenette's eyebrows slightly furrowed in confusion, as she simply stared back at him with a dumbfounded expression on her face. She didn't get where he was getting at.

"I heard you moaning last night."

Oh. Juvia was screwed.

It was during these moments that she caught herself missing her old guild again. Things were much different there, and except Cana, everyone seemed a little bit reserved when it came to this kind of things, just like Juvia. People didn't talk about it and everyone acted like the idea of sex never crossed their minds, or at least pretended to be embarrassed when Cana made some outrageous implications. At Sabertooth, things weren't that simple. Or maybe it was the opposite, things were much simpler. They didn't seem to care at all. They were keen on picking on their friends with this subject, always snickering and nudging the other's elbow with a mischievous smile on their faces. Rogue was the only one not to talk about it, but still smirked at his friends' dirty jokes. If she was still at Fairy Tail, she could've fallen asleep in the middle of the hall and made some suspicious noises, and no one would've even dared to mention it, except Cana. Here, she already knew Sting would never let this go.

"Juvia had another nightmare," the bluenette tried to justify herself despite the blush spreading across her cheeks.

"Really? Because I heard you say my name," Sting smugly implied with a smirk on his lips as he let his eyes roam over Juvia's body. "You were dreaming about our night."

He took a step forward. Juvia had the back of her legs stuck against her bedframe, but wasn't sure she would've taken a step backward even if it wasn't there to block her. She just kept staring at him, her throat dry and suddenly acutely aware of the heat his body was still radiating after his shower. He leaned towards her, a few drops of water rolled down his blond locks directly onto her chest, and the sudden feeling of wetness against her skin seemed to snap her out of her daze, bringing her back to reality. She splayed a hand across his chest and gently pushed him back, while she quickly wiped off the few droplets rolling down her cleavage with her other hand, not without noticing how Sting's eyes followed them with interest. "No," she said firmly, contrasting with how gentle her touch against his chest was. "Juvia's not doing this."

"Doing what?" she was looking at his chest but could still hear him smiling.

"That little game Sting seems to love to play," the water mage retorted as she rolled her eyes, gently pushing him aside to head toward the door. She heard him chuckle and had to fight off a smile as she walked out and crossed the corridor, biting the inside of her cheeks. It only took her three steps to get to her door, but as soon as she opened the door, the need to smile completely faded.

Her eyes were instantly drawn to the bed. There was nothing there but the crumpled sheets. No petals, no blood, no disease, and yet, the vision was still unsettling for her. It held too many painful memories. Everything in this room was linked to her old life, and all of it still hurt. She had cried over her friends and had realized something she wished had stayed hidden in the depth of her mind. It was as if everything that had been building up inside of her, not only for the last few weeks, but for the last few years, had finally been unleashed and had completely broken her. Her love for Gray was meaningless, it would have never lead her anywhere and at that point she didn't even know if her feelings were true or if she had just grown used to being that person, in love and obsessed with Gray. It had hurt her more than anything for a long time now, but she had ignored it all because it was so comfortable to define herself as the girl who loved Gray. It was so easy, so hopeful. There was nothing more pleasing than to completely offer yourself to someone, and the night before, when Juvia had let Sting take her in his arms to heal her, she had finally decided to give herself to someone else, someone who was ready to take her and see her for who she was. When he had carried her out of that room, away from these petals, he had broken that one last thing that tied her to Gray. He had taken her away from these flowers that had been clouding her mind and choking her for so long, and in return, she had accepted to see the truth, she had finally acknowledge her one-sided devotion.

Now, she didn't want to spend another minute in this meaningful place. She was ready to move on, to do better. So, without according another glance to the bed, Juvia grabbed her suitcase, walked out the door, and didn't look back.

"You were quick," Sting pointed out when he heard the door opening again. He was buttoning his pants, not looking at her, but glanced at her curiously when the bluenette closed the door and headed towards the bed without answering. He noticed the luggage in her hand right before she dropped it on the floor and unceremoniously flopped onto the bed. "You didn't want to..." he trailed off, not truly sure of what he was suggesting.

"No," Juvia affirmed without offering him any form of explaination.

A comfortable silence settled between them, followed by a quiet sigh and the muffled sound of the water mage letting herself fall back into the sheets. She stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, convincing herself that she would get up and get dressed in a few seconds and that she only needed to lay down for a minute. What she certainly didn't expect was for Sting's head to appear in her sight, with his eyebrows slightly furrowed in an adorable confused expression. "You're not fine," he stated as he flopped onto the bed right next to her, letting his hair dampen the sheets. "Do you wanna talk about your dream?"

"Juvia already said she didn't want to-"

"No, not that one," Sting cut her off. "The one that almost gave you a panic attack."

"Oh," the bluenette piped out. "It was..."

"The hanaki disease?" She turned her head to throw him a surprised glance. "You were talking about petals and blood. And I guess it was about..." This time he was the one to let her complete his sentence, as if he was more uncomfortable evocating Gray than the disease.

"Yes, it was about him," she admitted in a quiet sigh. "When Juvia went back to her room last night she couldn't stop thinking about her old guild and friends, about how they were probably forgetting about her already. Then when she fell asleep she started coughing petals and blood. It was everywhere and it wouldn't stop coming out of her mouth."

There was a beat of silence and Juvia was thankful when Sting didn't try to fill it with some useless words in an attempt to be comforting. There was nothing to say and they both knew it. It had been years now, it was time for her to face the truth. Even she knew one day she'd have to admit it. Juvia had just wished it would come later, or even never. She was so used to loving Gray, the change was abrupt. She wasn't sure she wanted to forget about him, but she knew she couldn't keep on going like that. The bluenette didn't want to be in love with him anymore, she hadn't wanted that for a long time now, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt to try to ignore her feelings. She had no idea what she was supposed to do if she wasn't in love with him anymore. She didn't know who she'd talk to, what she'd talk about, but there was one thing she was sure of: these incertitudes were pathetic. Her whole life had revolved around Gray, and she hated how lost she felt now that she wanted him out of it.

"Juvia feels like it's all she's been talking about for the last few years." The water mage had tried to sigh but her throat was too tight and she choked a bit on her words. She took a second to breath, biting her lower lips, and was thankful when Sting stayed silent, waiting for her to continue. "It was just so easy to define herself as the girl who loved Gray. It felt like she was always happy. She was always dreaming and smiling and everything but..."

"But it's not enough,"

"It's not enough." She shook her head, feeling her eyes water. "And it is so pathetic. Juvia's entire identity has been completely defined by Gray for a few years now and she feels like it is only him now. She has no personnality, no soul, no life, just Gray. No one truly knows her and she doesn't even know if she knows herself anymore."

"If it can help," Sting started off, his voice steady and reassuring. "I know a Juvia. I don't know if this is the one you want to define yourself like, but I know the Juvia from Sabertooth. She's nice, maybe the nicest person who ever walked into my guild. She's incredibly fun, the only woman I know who manages to be nervous and carefree at the same time. She cares about everyone deeply, and she always tries to help, no matter the time or efforts it will take her. The only part of her identity defined by that Gray is how strong she is, how she managed to get through years of being taken for granted, and now is finally ready to go on her own path." He made a pause, and Juvia could feel her heartbeat in her fingertips. "She's really great, you should get to know her."

A smile stretched across her lips. The blond turned his head towards her, watching her ever-so-slightly creased eyes with a soft smile adorning his face. "Thank you," the words were barely above a whisper, but their warmth filled the entire room, dripping with gratefulness. Sure, she was lost. There was no denying in the fact that forgetting about Gray was going to be tough, but at least, Juvia knew she wasn't alone in it. With the members of Sabertooth, she had discovered a brand new side of herself. She was sure there was even more to learn about that side. A side that didn't need to fully devote herself to someone to feel complete.

The dragon slayer looked back towards the ceiling before all of a sudden feeling something brush against his hand. Juvia let her hand hover over his, her fingertips barely brushing against his skin, hesitating. Before she could take it back, Sting gently grabbed her hand and interwined their fingers.

Juvia felt Sting lifting their interwined hands but didn't pay much attention to it until she felt a pair of lips gently pressing a kiss onto her knuckles. She instantly felt a blush creeping up on her cheeks, her entire face on fire. The blond had to stifle a laugh next to her, but couldn't keep it in any longer when Juvia grumpily threw his hand away. She abruptly sat up, facing away from him so he wouldn't see her redden cheeks, but she could still hear him roaring with laughter. She glanced over her shoulders and saw him rolling onto his side, his arms wrapped around his stomach as he laughed.

"Hate you," the blunette mumbled, completely flushed.

"Oh god, your face," Sting giggled as he sat up too, wiping some tears away as he did so.

"Juvia has never despised anyone like she despises Sting."

"Of course, sweetheart," the dragon slayer smirked.

She abruptly whiped her head towards him, her eyes narrowed angrily, but the blond was already getting up. Instead of walking away, he took a step towards her to be standing right before her, and leaned toward her, his knee getting between her legs. With his two hands on the bed at her sides and his knee resting on the edge of it right between her thighs, Juvia was trapped, forced to stare helplessly at him with her blue wide doe eyes. He leaned in until he was only inches away from her, a smirk still playing on his lips, and she couldn't help but notice how it seemed to get a bit wider when he heard how jagged her breathing was getting.

"Be downstairs in twenty minutes."

Her eyes left his lips and she only then realized she had been staring at them the whole time. When her glance flickered from his smirk to his eyes, she barely had time to see the affection glinting in his pupils before he got closer and gently pressed his lips against her forehead. Juvia closed her eyes, a smile hovering on her lips. The contact barely lasted a second and when the bluenette opened her eyes again, the blond was already heading out with a shirt in hand. It took the water mage a few seconds to snap out of her daze after the door closed behind him. She had a warm feeling of affection spread through her. She was fine, and she was realizing with time that she was always feeling good when the blond was with her. Smiling to herself, the bluenette shook her head and forced herself to get up from the bed before she was tempted to stay here all morning.

She was quick to open her luggage and dig out a simple outfit that would allow her to move easily. Slipping the dress on, Juvia threw her night clothes into her luggage and then quickly brushed her hair, not wanting to make the others wait for her outside. She was out of the room only five minutes after and noticed that the doors leading to her friends' rooms were already locked, meaning they were outside. Reaching the hall, she was about to head towards the main door when the man behind the front desk called her over. Juvia turned around, dumbfounded, and was tempted to ask him if she was the one he was calling out for, but the man's attention had already been drawned away from her, rummaging through his drawers. Lacking any clarification, the water mage hesitantly made her way towards the front desk, patiently waiting for the man to look up again. When he did so, she offered him a polite smile as she greeted him, then receiving the exact same one as the man handed her a paper.

"A man called this morning, he was asking for you," he explained as she frowned down at the piece of paper between her hands. "He asked me to give you that number. Here, you can use our lacrima phone to make a call," he politely offered her, handing her the device.

Juvia thanked him and took a few steps away from the front desk before typing in the number. She struggled a bit, more used to normal lacrimas since lacrima phones were mostly targeted towards compagnies, but was more than thankful not to be using a normal lacrima that would allow her to talk to the other person as if they were right before her when the person picked up, and a familiar voice answered.

"Juvia!" the man at the other end of the line seemingly beamed. "You won't believe how much I struggled to get in touch with you. When I called Sabertooth someone told me you were gone on a mission, I had to find what it was and where it was located. I really thought I'd have to wait a week to be able to talk to you."

"Hi, master," Juvia smiled, trying to ignore the anxiety twisting her stomach. She didn't know why he was calling but wasn't really expecting good news at this point. "Why did Makaroff need to get in touch with Juvia?"

"I managed to join a friend working for the council, I told him about your situation and he found an arrangement." There was a beat of silence and Juvia just kept nervously nibbling on her lower lip, a bad feeling churning in the pit of her stomach. This wasn't good.

"You can come back to Fairy Tail at the end of your mission."


End file.
